SAN RAMON — Police have identified six men and a juvenile arrested after allegedly joining a large group that stormed into a San Ramon jewelry store, some carrying guns, and smashed cases, grabbed merchandise and fled in multiple stolen getaway cars, authorities said.
Arrested in relation to the Monday robbery of Heller Jewelers were Michael Ray, 31; Jimmy Ray, 27; Ira Austin, 19; Jahkeal McGolthin, 18; Jacques Samuel, 18; DeAndre Demisse, 19, and a 17-year-old boy.
On Thursday, the Contra Costa District Attorney’s Office announced charges against three of them: Michael Ray of San Francisco, Jimmy Ray of Vallejo and Austin, who lives in San Francisco. They each were charged with 13 counts of second-degree robbery and one count of conspiracy to commit a crime, with special enhancements due to the value of the stolen property.
Police are still looking for more suspects. At least 20 masked robbers took part in the smash-and-grab robbery at about 1:50 p.m. Monday at the store located in the City Center Bishop Ranch shopping center.
“Our communities deserve safety from conduct like the audacious daylight robbery in San Ramon,” said Contra Costa District Attorney Diana Becton said in a statement. “Thanks to the excellent investigative work by the San Ramon Police Department, these defendants will face significant punishment for the offenses they committed.”
Added Becton, “my office will continue to work with San Ramon PD and other law enforcement partners to identify other perpetrators who participated in this brazen robbery and charge them accordingly.”
Video of the robbery circulating online shows the masked people carrying what appears to be pick axes, crow bars and tire irons. At one point, video appears to show the shop’s front doors lock the robbers inside, before one of them fires off several shots through the glass, allowing the group to escape to getaway cars parked in the lot’s valet area.
“We’re not sharing details about the store’s security to avoid compromising employee safety or revealing their security measures,” police spokesperson Lt. Leysy Pelayo said in a statement Thursday. “Based on video footage released, it appeared the suspects were unable to open the doors as they may have been locked just before one of the individuals shot through the glass door.”
Pelayo did not say whether the suspects were in possession of any stolen property when they were arrested. Police reportedly apprehended McGlothin, Samuel and Demisse at the Dublin BART station. Michael Ray, Jimmy Ray, Austin and the 17-year-old juvenile were arrested in East Oakland, Pelayo said.
Police reportedly used drones and a helicopter to track and follow several suspects throughout Contra Costa and Alameda counties after suspending a car chase out of concern for public safety.
Pelayo also said police were waiting for the store to confirm the damages and inventory lost before reporting how much the robbers got away with. A person who answered the door at the store declined to comment on Thursday.
This isn’t the first time masked and armed intruders have robbed Heller Jewelers.
In 2023, federal prosecutors charged five people who were allegedly part of a larger group that robbed the same store in March that year, making away with over 70 pieces of jewelry with an estimated worth of $1.1 million, officials said at the time. The stolen inventory included a Rolex watch equipped with a tracking device, which police said helped aid in their capture.
Elsewhere in the Bay Area, a group on Sept. 5 violently robbed Kim Hung Jewelry in San Jose’s east side, when more than a dozen masked assailants entered the store and shoved the elderly owner of the store to the ground.
Also, a Milpitas jewelry store owner on Sept. 10 reportedly fired a gun at a group of suspects during an attempted smash-and-grab robbery, causing the would-be robbers to flee before taking any merchandise, according to police.
The rise in organized thefts has become a major talking point for advocates who are asking the state to step in to do more to prevent the violent encounters. At a press conference Thursday in front of the San Ramon shopping center, several advocates, including Dublin Mayor Sherry Hu, used Monday’s robbery in San Ramon as a chance to call upon Gov. Gavin Newsom and other prominent officials throughout the state to step up and do something to prevent more organized robberies.
Hu said in an interview that these types of organized crimes are “not an easy thing to prevent,” though she urged state and county legislators to strengthen laws and stiffen penalties to combat smash-and-grab robberies.
“We feel in Dublin we are doing a great job…(but) it’s hard for Dublin to act on our own,” Hu said.
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