5 Thieves Follow, Rob 2 Jewelry Wholesalers

Jewelry thieves believed to be connected with a Colombian ring struck again Thursday night, this time in Castaic, robbing two jewelry wholesalers from Hong Kong of at least $140,000 in merchandise, according to Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies.

Authorities said they believe the five thieves--four men and one woman--probably are part of a ring responsible for a series of similar robberies in the Los Angeles area and throughout the country in recent years.

Thursday’s victims, whom deputies declined to identify, were on their way to do business in San Francisco when they stopped at a McDonald’s restaurant on Lake Hughes Road in Castaic.

While the jewelers were in the restaurant, police said, the thieves drove into the parking lot and broke into their rental car, taking luggage stuffed with jewelry. One of the victims said he walked out of the restaurant and tried to stop the robbery but was quickly surrounded by robbers, deputies said.

The thieves fled in two cars, a white two-door compact and a four-door white BMW, authorities said.

The victims told deputies they think they were followed, possibly from the Monterey Park area, where they had done business earlier in the day.

“This latest robbery seems like the work of the same guys, it’s the same MO,” said Det. Mike Woodings of the LAPD’s jewelry theft task force, which works in coordination with the Sheriff’s Department to solve such crimes.

The robbery was the third such incident in the Valley area this year. Just over a month ago a salesman was followed from downtown Los Angeles to his Woodland Hills home and robbed of more than $100,000 in jewelry. Three weeks ago an Encino man, who police believe was followed home from Los Angeles International Airport, was held up at his home, losing $350,000 in jewelry.

There have been 41 similar robberies in California this year, over half of them in Los Angeles County, according to Woodings. All told, the robberies account for almost $10 million in losses since Jan. 1 of this year.