THOUSAND OAKS : Armed Men Rob Jewelry Store in Mall

Four men armed with handguns and a sledgehammer carried out a lightning-quick, lunch-hour robbery of a jewelry store Monday in a Thousand Oaks shopping center.

The robbery of Kirk Jewelers on the second floor of The Oaks mall occurred about 12:15 p.m., said Detective Ed Wyand of the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department.

“It took 20 seconds, at the most 30 seconds,” he said.

He said the store’s four employees were frightened but uninjured. No customers were in the store.

Store manager Steve Weiss played down the incident.

“It was not a real big thing,” Weiss said. “Not a whole lot was taken.” He declined to be more specific.

Weiss said he sent the four employees home early.

It was the second robbery in about a year at the store, Wyand said.

The suspects were described as four males, ages 17 to 25, wearing dark pants or shorts, white baggy T-shirts, baseball caps and sunglasses.

Two of the robbers wielded handguns, and the lead gunman barked at employees to get down, Wyand said. A third robber used a small sledgehammer to smash a display case, from which the fourth grabbed merchandise.

The four fled the mall on foot and no vehicle was found.