Cell Phone Leads to $2 Million in Stolen Jewels

Police have recovered about $2 million worth of jewelry that was stolen last week at gunpoint from a traveling salesman in Santa Clarita, authorities said Friday.

The theft was believed to be one of more than 50 Southern California jewelry robberies committed this year by a large Colombian crime ring, detectives said.

Investigators found the jewelry in a clothes hamper after serving a search warrant at an Eagle Rock residence. The occupant, a 25-year-old Colombian national, was arrested on suspicion of receiving stolen property. Police are still looking for the two men who held up the salesman.

Detectives believe that the Colombian ring is responsible for robberies involving more than $13 million in jewelry.

“The bulk of them have been in Los Angeles,” said LAPD Det. Michael Woodings.

He said investigators suspect that more than 100 people are part of the theft ring, which has been committing crimes throughout the country.

The LAPD formed a jewelry theft task force in 1997 to fight the syndicate.

At a news conference at police headquarters Friday, investigators displayed hundreds of pieces of the recovered jewelry, which included rings, bracelets and necklaces. It was one of the largest recoveries of stolen jewelry “in quite some time,” Woodings said.

Police also recovered a stolen .45-caliber handgun, several cellular phones and two-way radios that the bandits apparently used to communicate with one another when coordinating the robberies.

According to police, the traveling salesman was robbed and carjacked April 8 shortly after leaving a Santa Clarita jewelry store where he tried to sell his merchandise.

The two robbers stole the man’s car and abandoned it a few blocks away. Police said the thieves inadvertently left a cellular phone in the abandoned car.

Investigators used information about that phone to lead them to the Eagle Rock address, where they found the stolen property and arrested Kimberly Reyes, 25.

The search for the robbers continues, police said. One suspect was described as a Latino in his 30s, 5-foot-11 with black hair, brown eyes and no facial hair who spoke fluent English and wore a dark baseball cap, a dark waist-length jacket, khaki pants and dark leather shoes. He also has a mole on his right cheek.

The other suspect is described as a Latino in his late 20s, 5-foot-7, about 150 pounds with black hair, brown eyes and a mustache. He also was wearing a dark baseball cap.

Police asked that anyone with information on the two robbers contact investigators at: (213) 485-2525.