Gilroy
– A man brandishing a gun tied up a jewelry store employee
before stealing roughly $40,000 in jewelry from the business
Wednesday afternoon.
The suspect entered La Estrellita Jewelry and Gifts, 363 E. 10th
St. #J, about 1:39pm and fled the store about seven minutes later,
the store’s owner estimated.
By Lori Stuenkel
Gilroy – A man brandishing a gun tied up a jewelry store employee before stealing roughly $40,000 in jewelry from the business Wednesday afternoon.
The suspect entered La Estrellita Jewelry and Gifts, 363 E. 10th St. #J, about 1:39pm and fled the store about seven minutes later, the store’s owner estimated.
Police described the suspect as a Hispanic male adult, about 25 years old with short, dark hair. He was about 5-feet 5-inches tall, weighed 160 pounds, and was wearing a baby blue and white button-down shirt, blue jeans, and dark shoes. Police provided a sketch of the suspect based on information from the woman who was working at the time.
The man asked the store’s 38-year-old female employee for some assistance in reaching CDs located high on one of the store’s walls, the owner recounted Thursday morning. As the woman turned around, the suspect grabbed her and put a handgun to the back of her head. The man took the woman to the store’s back room and forced her to stop the surveillance recording. The suspect tied the woman’s hands together with tape and forced her to lie on the floor.
“They said they would kill her if she moved or talked,” said Javier Escudero, the store’s owner who was not present during the robbery.
The man began collecting jewelry from two of the store’s six cases – taking the most expensive necklaces, rings, bracelets, and watches, Escudero said.
Once he fled the store, the employee emerged from the back room and sought help at a nearby store, where workers called police. After a search of the area, police were unable to locate the suspect.
Anyone with information may call Detective Dan Zen at 846-0350.
