Local News in Brief : Jewelry Thief Poses as UPS Delivery Man

A gunman who posed as a delivery man escaped with several thousand dollars worth of jewelry from a Rolling Hills Estates home Monday while the actual delivery driver was handcuffed in a van outside, police said.

The incident began in the 23100 block of Hawthorne Boulevard in Torrance where the gunman forced United Parcel Service driver Phillip Feldman, 32, of Costa Mesa to hand over his uniform shirt, officers said.

The suspect then handcuffed Feldman inside the van and drove to Rolling Hills Estates where he told Sandra Del Conte, 44, that he had a delivery for her as she drove up in her car, investigators said.

Once inside Del Conte’s home, the man pulled a gun and handcuffed her, police said, before going through the house collecting the jewelry. He fled in the van with Feldman still handcuffed inside, police said.

The gunman abandoned the van at a supermarket in Lomita where Feldman was discovered more than three hours after his ordeal began, police said. Feldman was treated at a hospital for swelling in his wrists and hands and released. The suspect is being sought.