SAN DIEGO : Smash-and-Grab Robbers Hit Saks

Two men and a woman burst into the Saks Fifth Avenue store on Camino del Rio North with a gun Thursday evening, smashed jewelry display cases with a hammer and took off with more than $50,000 worth of merchandise, police said.

“They walked in and started banging on the jewelry display case with a hammer,” San Diego Police Lt. Jerry Moody said.

“They broke the display cases, scooped up jewelry and ran. It was a smash-and-grab,” he said.

Armed robberies of department stores are rare because the jewelry department is usually in the center of the store, Moody said.

Several customers were in the store when the robbery occurred at 7:15 p.m. in the Mission Valley Center shopping mall. A clerk standing near the suspects turned and ran when she saw the gun, ignoring the robbers’ shouts to stop, Moody said. No shots were fired and no one was injured.

The suspects fled the store and were seen getting into a stolen dark green Jeep Wagoneer with wood-veneer side panels, Moody said.