The same jewelry store in Chinatown was hit twice by criminals in four days — first on Saturday, when suspects smashed a front window (perhaps in a first burglary attempt), and then on Tuesday, when thieves succeeded in grabbing $250,000 in merchandise.
The owners of Long Boat Jewelry (754 Grant Avenue at Sacramento) tell KRON4 that the store was hit by would-be thieves on Saturday, who smashed a front window — but it's unclear if much was taken at that time.
Ebert Kan, with the Bay Area Asian neighborhood patrol group United Peace Collaborators, tells the station that SFPD officers told him that four jewelry businesses in Chinatown were targeted on Saturday.
In any event, it was likely the same suspects who returned on Tuesday, this time with a bolt cutter for the lock on the front gate. The thieves then smashed through a front door, and smashed display cases to get at $250,000 in jewels. Owners say — because there must be video that's not been made public — that the thieves were in and out in under three minutes.
On Saturday, someone broke their front window. And, this happened!! Police reports have been filed. The jewelry store has been in business for nearly 40 years. The owners tell me they can’t take much more of this and have thought about closing. @nbcbayarea #SFChinatown pic.twitter.com/iK2dHEF05s
— Christine Ni 倪君怡 (@christineniSF) November 16, 2021
The owners didn't want to speak on camera, and said they were afraid the thieves might try to strike a third time.
Sadly, the owners said they were just months away from retiring from the business after 40 years.
It's not clear that the cases are related, but a jewelry-heist crew may be in high gear — there was also a smash-and-grab burglary at a mall jewelry store in Concord early Monday. There were nine thieves in that case, all of whom wore hoodies and face masks so could not be easily identified on surveillance cameras.
Photo: Jay B./Yelp
