Jeweler Carjacked, Robbed at Gas Station
Masked gunmen rushed a jeweler at a gas station in the middle of the afternoon Thursday and escaped with his car and jewelry.
The jeweler, whom police did not identify, was driving home to Los Angeles from the MainPlace/Santa Ana mall and had stopped at Haster Street and Chapman Avenue about 2:45 p.m. to get gas.
In front of numerous witnesses, three armed men in bandanna masks ordered him to the ground and drove away in his Mercury Cougar, Sgt. Frank Hauptmann said. They were followed by accomplices in a second car, he said.
The victim was taken to UCI Medical Center in Orange, where he was in stable condition and being treated for what appeared to be a panic attack, Hauptmann said.
Police would not release the value of the stolen jewelry.
This is at least the fifth time in three weeks that robbers have targeted jewelry couriers in Orange County.
Nearly 100 such attacks occurred in the county last year, authorities said.
Authorities have said the surge in these attacks may be the result of a crackdown by a task force in Los Angeles, causing the robbers to move south.
Authorities also suspect that the robbers are connected to a Colombian crime syndicate.
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