California IN BRIEF : THOUSAND OAKS : $100,000 in Jewels Stolen From Mall

In one of the biggest jewelry robberies in Ventura County history, more than $100,000 in jewels were stolen at gunpoint from a Thousand Oaks department store Friday night, authorities disclosed Saturday. The jewelry was taken from the Best Products Store in the Janss Mall by a trio of robbers, one of whom confronted a jewelry department clerk with a black, semi-automatic handgun, the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department said. The gunman ordered the clerk to unlock the eight jewelry cases. While his two partners were emptying the cases, the gunman detained eight clerks and customers who were in the area, a sheriff’s official added. “It’s one of the largest jewel robberies we’ve had,” said Sheriff’s Lt. Tony Ditzhazy. “It wasn’t like holding up a 7-Eleven or gas station. They came in full well knowing what they were going to do.” The three robbers took “everything in the store,” Ditzhazy said.