Six arrested in series of robberies at jewelry stores
SAN JOSE >> Six young men have been arrested in connection to a string of smash-and-grab jewelry store robberies in San Jose last fall and are suspected of similar crimes elsewhere in the Bay Area and Northern California, police announced Monday morning.
Robbery detectives with the San Jose Police Department, working with other law enforcement agencies in the region, identified six men between the ages of 18 and 20 they contend committed multiple robberies of jewelry stores between October and January, police said.
The group “used sledgehammers and tools to break open glass display cases and take thousands of dollars' worth of jewelry,” according to investigators. In some instances, they allegedly carried guns and pepper spray, and after the thefts ran to waiting vehicles to flee, police said.
On April 14, San Jose and Daly City police served arrest and search warrants in the case.
Five of the men have been charged with felonies by the Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office: Michael Earle, 18, whose listed residences are Menlo Park and Oakland; Charles Evans, 19, of San Leandro; Andrew Maravilla Lopez, 20, of Hayward; Maurice Sweet, 19, of Pittsburg; and Noah Tekle, 19, of San Leandro.
Earle, Maravilla Lopez and Tekle are being held without bail in the Elmwood men's jail, according to jail records. Evans and Sweet are being held
San Jose Police announced the seizure of two assault weapons with extended magazines, privately made firearms also known as ghost guns, including one converted to fully automatic, and gun manufacturing equipment including molds, jigs, and tools when they arrested six suspects while investigating a series of 2021 smash-and-grab jewelry store robberies.
at the same facility in lieu of respective bail amounts of $200,000 and $100,000. A sixth person arrested, a 20-year-old Newark resident, has not been charged.
San Jose police and the Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office said the group has been tied to highprofile smash-and-grab jewelry store robberies, including ones reported Oct. 29 at Eastridge Mall and Jan. 3 at the La Placita Tropicana shopping center on Story Road.
In the Jan. 3 crime — which was captured on security video — authorities say a group used yellow and black hammers to break display cases, and that one of the suspects hit a female employee on the head with one of the hammers.
Prosecutors also say the group tried unsuccessfully to steal jewelry Nov. 5 from a store in Valley Fair in which they reportedly couldn't break through security glass, and they fled after security guards chased them.
All of the thefts occurred
in the midst of a spate of group-oriented retail burglaries and robberies across the region.
The search warrants led to the seizure of multiple guns, including what police described as two assault weapons with extended magazines, one of which was modified for automatic fire. They also reported confiscating molds and tools they believe was used to assemble, produce or modify firearms. The gun recoveries led to two other people, not connected to the robberies, being arrested for unrelated weapons crimes.
Other police agencies involved in the case included departments in Antioch, Concord, Merced, Palo Alto, Pittsburg, San Mateo and Roseville, as well as the U.S. Marshals Service.
Anyone with information about the robberies can contact SJPD Robbery Detective Amanda Estantino at 408-277-4166 or leave a tip with Silicon Valley Crime Stoppers at 408-947-7867 or at svcrimestoppers.org.