Not Guilty Plea in S.F. Jewel Heist

A suspect arrested this week in San Francisco’s record jewelry heist pleaded not guilty Friday to multiple counts of robbery, false imprisonment, kidnapping, commercial burglary and conspiracy to commit robbery.

George Turner, 43, is charged in the $6-million April robbery of Lang Antique & Estate Jewelry along with brothers Dino Loren Smith, 44, and Troy Devin Smith, 40, who remain at large.

San Francisco detectives and uniformed officers caught up with Turner Tuesday afternoon just hours after he checked into the historic Ocean Park Motel in the city’s Sunset District. Turner had paid $74 for the room and had $19.63 in his pocket when he was arrested.

But in a suitcase on the bed, police found a green canvas bag packed with more than $500,000 worth of jewelry. Most of the 130 or so earrings, watches, necklaces and bracelets still had the Lang price tags affixed, said San Francisco Police Inspector Dan Gardner.

Turner was unarmed and did not resist arrest, Gardner said. He was wearing an expensive Patek Philippe watch that matches the description of one stolen from the Lang safe.

Police and prosecutors allege that Turner and the Smith brothers, along with a fourth man, cut through the wall of an abandoned restaurant behind Lang on the night of April 6. They allegedly disabled the alarm system and surprised employees who arrived for work the next morning, forcing them to open the safe. They then fled with garbage bags stuffed with estate jewelry

Police say their evidence includes fingerprints recovered at Lang and on a newspaper in the vacant Rumpus Restaurant that match those of Turner and Troy Smith. A victim in the case identified Dino Smith as one of the gunmen in a photo lineup, police say.

Turner is being held on $2-million bail and is expected to return to court July 7. Prosecutors plan to add a charge of possession of stolen property. A conviction would be Turner’s third strike.