Police investigate armed robbery - Submitted by Alastair Dallas

kir

Published on 11-27-2012 08:19 PM

5 Comments

Blacy’s Fine Jewelers was robbed at gunpoint just after noon today by two men wearing ski masks, gloves, and brandishing semi-automatic pistols. The suspects allegedly smashed display cases as they held the employees at gunpoint. They made off with an unspecified quantity of jewelry, but no one was hurt.

Surveillance video shows robbery suspects storming the jewelry store

Two armed robbers struck Blacy’s Fine Jewelers at 51 University Ave. Tuesday at noon.

Witnesses told police that the two men were Hispanic or Asian, 25 to 30 years old, 5’6″ or 5’7″ with average builds. They wore gray hoodies, dark pants (possibly blue jeans), black gloves, and the dark-colored ski masks. Each carried a black, semi-automatic pistol.

The men reportedly pulled up in a blue Acura, pulled on their ski masks after they got out of the car, and entered the jewelry store. After the robbery, they headed northbound on University Avenue.

Anyone with information about the robbery or the suspects is asked to contact Sergeant Mike D’Antonio of the Los Gatos/Monte Sereno Police Department at (408) 827-3219 or call the police department’s general number, (408) 354-8600, after hours.

Anyone with any information about these men or this afternoon’s robbery is urged to call Mike D’Antonio of the Los Gatos/Monte Sereno Police Department.

Please visit www.allthingslosgatos.com for more articles by Alastair Dallas

5 Comments

Unregistered - 11-28-2012, 08:39 AM

I know that this act of "strong-arm" robbery must have been (and still is) shocking and traumatic for the employees/victims, thus making their identification(s) of the perpetrators naturally less than reliable, but wait a minute, "[w]itnesses told police that the two men were [either] Hispanic or Asian," although they wore black gloves, dark-colored ski masks, and were otherwise fully clad. How could any of the witnesses tell what the ethnicity of the robbers are/were under such circumstances? Was it the way they spoke, the way they moved around or something else that gave away their ethnic origin(s). I can't help but note that the total number of so called "Asians" and "Hispanics" in the world account for more than 2/3 of the world's total population (probably closer to 3/4), so thems are pretty good odds if you had to guess, I guess.
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stilladoll - 11-28-2012, 03:58 PM

I read in the Press Release Los Gatos PD issued about this crime that the witnesses saw the robbers get out of their car (blue Acura) and THEN don their masks. I'm assuming that's where the accounting of their ethnicity came from.
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Unregistered - 11-28-2012, 05:21 PM

I'm the daughter of the owner of this shop. And they were speaking a foreign language and an employee saw the man before he put on his mask and walked in. We would never make assumptions like that, or be racist at a time like this. We are really just asking for help.

Thank you
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Terry McBriarty - 11-28-2012, 09:05 PM

I am pretty sure "strong arm" robbery is the term used when there is no weapon involved. This is an armed robbery, a terrifying crime where the men used semi-automatic weapons in the middle of lunch hour in downtown los gatos. The poor woman with a stroller which I assume has her child in it must have been terrified! Thankfully no one was hurt and I hope the theives are apprehended, this kind of brazen crime shouldn't happen anywhere and I am sorry for the owners and employees that were involved in this incident. If the people were speaking a different language i can only imagine that would have made the situation even more tense because you wouldnt know if they were saying something to you. What a terrible start to the holidays.
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Andrew H. Wu - 11-29-2012, 06:09 PM

Originally Posted by Terry McBriarty

I am pretty sure "strong arm" robbery is the term used when there is no weapon involved. This is an armed robbery, a terrifying crime where the men used semi-automatic weapons in the middle of lunch hour in downtown los gatos. The poor woman with a stroller which I assume has her child in it must have been terrified! Thankfully no one was hurt and I hope the theives are apprehended, this kind of brazen crime shouldn't happen anywhere and I am sorry for the owners and employees that were involved in this incident. If the people were speaking a different language i can only imagine that would have made the situation even more tense because you wouldnt know if they were saying something to you. What a terrible start to the holidays.

Once again proving the old British adage that, "a well armed society is a polite society." Author's note: personal ownership of firearms is (generally) illegal in the UK.

I couldn't find a satisfactory definition for "strong-arm robbery in the California Penal Code, but did find something posted concerning Florida's criminal statutes on Ask.com:

Quote:

Strong-arm robbery is a term used to describe a situation where the offender used any degree of force to complete the act. Strong-arm robbery is technically a term used to describe the crime of "Robbery by sudden snatching." This crime's definition is detailed below:

812.131 - Robbery by sudden snatching

"Robbery by sudden snatching" means the taking of money or other property from the victim's person, with intent to permanently or temporarily deprive the victim or the owner of the money or other property, when, in the course of the taking, the victim was or became aware of the taking. In order to satisfy this definition, it is not necessary to show that:

The offender used any amount of force beyond that effort necessary to obtain possession of the money or other property; or

There was any resistance offered by the victim to the offender or that there was injury to the victim's person.

End Quote.

Having been a Town resident for over twenty years, I never thought that LG would one day become like Ciudad Juarez, Mexico!
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