A group of six people broke into a Petaluma jewelry store Saturday and held employees at gunpoint as they robbed the location and then fled, prompting a multi-hour search that ended with two suspects in custody, according to authorities.
Petaluma police are still searching for four suspects, who drove away from Gold Rush Jewelers at 385 South McDowell Blvd. in a vehicle that was later found abandoned in a nearby neighborhood, the agency said in a news release. Authorities do not believe they are still in the area.
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According to a preliminary investigation, five suspects broke display cases using hammers and removed jewelry from the store as one suspect held employees at gunpoint. Police responded about 4:46 p.m. to a report of the armed robbery.
A male bystander noticed the scene and drove the suspects’ unattended vehicle into the front of the store, causing the group to flee. The release did not elaborate regarding the man’s intentions.
The bystander was pepper sprayed by one of the suspects as he tried to get away from the vehicle, which police later learned had been stolen out of Brentwood.
The bystander was later treated for minor injuries. The store employees were not injured.
Four suspects drove away and two ran, according to the release.
A witness on Coronado Drive, less than half a mile from the jewelry store, pointed officers in the direction of one of the suspects who had jumped a fence into a nearby backyard. The Sonoma County Sheriff’s helicopter Henry-1 responded to the area and found the two who had fled on foot.
The suspects, who are both 18-years-old, were arrested and booked into the Sonoma County jail on suspicion of suspected of multiple charges, including battery on a person, robbery, burglary, assault with a firearm and exhibiting a firearm in a threatening manner. They are each being held on $250,000 bail and set to appear Tuesday in Sonoma County Superior Court.
The Sheriff’s helicopter and K-9 unit and Petaluma police continued to search for about two hours but did not locate any other suspects or the gun used in the robbery.
A Gold Rush representative declined to comment for this story.
Petaluma police are asking that anyone with information, including security camera footage, contact Detective Alyssa Hansen at 707-781-1291 or ahansen@cityofpetaluma.org.
The Mercury News
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