Suspect in Store Thefts Caught After Tip to Police : Crime: A woman tailed a man she saw running from a Newport Beach jeweler’s, got his license number and notified authorities.

A tip from an alert passer-by who tailed a theft suspect as he fled from a Newport Beach jewelry store led to the arrest of a Redondo Beach man wanted by police in connection with half a dozen jewlery-store thefts in South Coast Plaza, Fashion Island, Mission Viejo and San Diego County, authorities said Wednesday.

Gerald Robert Boyes, 23, accused of stealing $41,000 in two Newport Beach thefts, was arrested Friday in Gardena after detectives tracked him down with the help of license plate information from a witness.

According to police, a Newport Beach woman, whom they would not identify, became suspicious when she observed a man fitting Boyes’ description running from Mozaffarian Jewelry at 2901 W. Coast Highway on June 13.

“She said he was running across Coast Highway, carrying a black bag and looking over his shoulder,” Sgt. Andy Gonis said.

According to police, the thief, posing as a customer, snatched 10 rings off a display counter at the jewlery store and ran off before the sales clerks had time to react.

The woman followed the theft suspect up Riverside Drive and then drove up to next to him while he stepped into a car parked near Cliff Drive Park. She told police she pretended to admire a house nearby while her daughter wrote down the car’s license plate.

Two days later, Boyes, who is also wanted by authorities in Florida, was charged with commercial burglary, grand theft and possession of stolen property. He was being held at the Orange County Jail on Wednesday in lieu of $150,000 bail, Gonis said.