5 Arrested in Anaheim Jewelry Robbery; Police Seek Ties to Other Store Holdups

Five men who police say may be part of a ring responsible for dozens of Southland jewelry store robberies were arrested Tuesday after allegedly storming an Anaheim store, smashing glass cases with a hammer and grabbing about $50,000 worth of jewels at gunpoint.

“It fits the MO of jewelry store robberies that have been happening for more than a year,” Anaheim Police Capt. Stan Kantor said. “They could be linked to numerous robberies, but at this point we’re still investigating.”

Police said the five were arrested shortly after the 3:45 p.m. robbery at Best Products Co., 1331 N. Euclid St.

Jeff Harmon, 21; Charles Keller, 21; Jeffrey Gibson, 20; Desmond Russell, 18, and Michael Carter, 27, all of Los Angeles, were arrested.

Three men entered the store, with one of the bandits pointing a handgun at store employees, another smashing the jewelry cases and the third scooping up the booty, police said.

A driver and a fifth man were waiting in a blue van, investigators said.

A clerk in the back of the store telephoned police during the fast-paced holdup, Kantor said.

When the robbers fled, a customer followed the van and saw the robbers abandon it a short distance away and get into a white 1991 Cadillac, Kantor said. The unidentified customer then called police to tell them what he saw.

A few minutes later, a patrol officer spotted the suspects’ car, which matched a description of the robbers’ vehicle, and followed it for a short distance, Kantor said.

The Cadillac driver apparently realized that he was being followed and “tried some evasive maneuvers,” he said. At the intersection of North and Loara streets, the driver collided with another vehicle when he tried to run a red light.

The unidentified driver of the other vehicle sustained minor injuries but was not hospitalized. The accident disabled the suspects’ car in the middle of the intersection, Kantor said.

“The suspects then exited the car and fled,” he said.

Police found two suspects hiding in bushes nearby and found the three others with the help of the department’s helicopter and a canine unit, Kantor said.

Bags of jewels, broken glass, a .44-caliber handgun and a hammer were found in the Cadillac, he said. The getaway van, which had been reported stolen, was also recovered by police.

Kantor said the suspects are being held in Anaheim’s Temporary Detention Facility on suspicion of armed robbery.

They will be interviewed and information from similar robberies in Orange and Los Angeles counties will be reviewed to determine whether there are any links, Kantor said.