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Crazy video shows a masked mob storming a jewelry store in California and stealing an estimated $1 million in merchandise.
The surveillance footage shows around 30 black-clad robbers ransacking the store in the middle of the day on Monday in San Ramon, which is about 34 miles east of San Francisco, the New York Post reported. The heist is just the latest blamed on the same gang.
The suspects can be seen using crowbars and pickaxes to shatter display cases before grabbing jewelry and shooting their way past a security door to escape.
“When they went in, they basically took over the store. Basically taking whatever jewelry was available,” San Ramon Police Department Lt. Mike Pistello told ABC 7 News, adding that the security door had “locked behind them,” an update made to the store after a robbery in 2023.
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Police believe the raid was planned several days in advance. The suspects allegedly took six separate vehicles to the store and parked in a valet area roughly 100 feet from the front of the store. Police said at least 20 people were involved, while witnesses told local media they counted 30 people.
Pistello said investigators were able to retrieve footage of the suspects fleeing the store from a drone funded by an organized retail theft grant in 2023.
“It shows all the suspects’ vehicles, as well as all the suspects leaving and entering their cars to leave,” Pistello said.
Police have arrested seven suspects so far, including a juvenile, in two different raids in Oakland and Dublin, California. Police said all the suspects are from Oakland and range in age from 17 to 31. The group is suspected of being involved in similar crimes across the Bay Area, per the report.
Two firearms and some of the stolen jewelry believed to have been dropped or discarded during the escape have been recovered, while several of the vehicles used in the robbery were reported stolen, according to police.
“This is not their first time doing something like this,” Pistello said. “This is not something that happens a lot in San Ramon. We’re doing our best to follow up on every lead possible.”