Gunmen Flee With $250,000 in Jewelry

Detectives searched Thursday for three gunmen who stormed into a Thousand Oaks jewelry store, smashed a display case with hammers and escaped with $250,000 worth of jewelry as shoppers throughout The Oaks mall ran for cover.

The takeover-style robbery occurred about 8:30 p.m. Wednesday at Ben Bridge Jeweler as dozens of shoppers strolled or ate dinner at a restaurant across from the store.

The robbers burst into the jewelry store brandishing guns and ordering two employees to lie on the floor, authorities said.

They then shattered a glass case near the mall’s main entrance.

The sound of the breaking glass echoed throughout the large two-story mall, panicking merchants and shoppers, who ducked into shops or behind sales counters.

“I went to get a pair of shoes from the back, and then suddenly I heard what I thought were shots, and then someone screamed ‘Get down!’” said Danielle Beebe, manager of the Easy Spirit shoe store.

Beebe said a customer screamed and the two of them ran into the back storage room.

The shoe store is across the pedestrian walkway from the jewelry store.

No shots were fired, and no one was injured.

The robbers fled in a stolen car, which they abandoned in a ditch less than a quarter of a mile away.

Two dozen sheriff’s deputies surrounded the mall, using dogs and a helicopter. California Highway Patrol officers briefly shut down a portion of the adjacent Ventura Freeway.

Detectives are investigating whether the gunmen are part of an organized group targeting jewelry stores across the Southland, according to a written alert given to merchants by mall security officials.

The robbery is believed to be the first at the Hillcrest Drive shopping center in at least a decade, authorities said.

“I talked to people at the scene who were absolutely amazed,” said Ventura County Sheriff’s Cmdr. Keith Parks.

“You don’t usually see something like this here,” Parks said. “I’m upset that our center was selected, but this is something that occurs everywhere, and unfortunately we happened to be it this time,” said Becky Bresson, the mall’s general manager.

Authorities believe the robbers probably fled in a second vehicle. .

Sheriff’s Capt. Frank O’Hanlon said an alert was faxed to all area law enforcement agencies Thursday to determine if the crime is related to any others.

Deputies also took tapes from surveillance cameras at several stores.

Several merchants said the privatesecurity team at the mall was still enough to make them feel safe.

“It’s very unfortunate,” Thousand Oaks Mayor Ed Masry said of the robbery. “We are considered one of the safest cities in the United States.”