VENTURA : Jewelry Store Owner Locks Up Suspects

The owner of Lynn’s Jewelry in Ventura thwarted a robbery by locking some would-be robbers in his shop and summoning police, authorities said Sunday.

Although one of the eight or nine members of a suspected Latino gang escaped after trying to steal a small box of expensive jewelry, police arrested seven people Saturday on suspicion of conspiracy to commit burglary, Ventura police said.

“It’s not like there was any real threat of violence,” store owner Bob Lynn said. “You just don’t let people get the upper hand, I guess.”

Police said the six men and one woman who were arrested are from Los Angeles County. Police were not sure if the names the seven gave were their true identities. Police weren’t certain whether there were eight or nine people, although Lynn said there were nine.

Authorities said they believe that the suspects have been involved in well-planned thefts in Los Angeles County.

Lynn said the group entered his shop on East Main Street at 3:23 p.m. Saturday and pretended not to know each other. But he said he saw the group leader issuing “marching orders” before entering the store. They carried shopping bags from stores outside of Ventura County, which also gave them away, he said.

Following the Jewelry Security Alliance guidelines, Lynn warned his wife and several clerks to “cover all bases. . . . We were waiting for the move to come.”

While most of the group distracted salesclerks with questions, one of them dropped to his knees and crawled behind the counter to a back office, police said. He crawled out with a box of jewelry worth about $10,000 and started toward the door, Lynn said.

But Lynn yelled at the man, prompting him to drop the box before he ran from the store.

Lynn said he promptly locked in the rest of the group, six clerks and half a dozen customers, telling them that they would be asked to act as witnesses. He then called police, who arrived in a few minutes.