A sizable team of thieves – all dressed in black and some wielding hammers – stole an estimated $100,000 in jewels and jewelry from the Heller Jewelry store in Bishop Ranch Monday, firing shots through the store’s security glass before scattering in multiple cars.
Outnumbered police pursued a number of suspect vehicles, some of which took to I680 and dispersed, some using evasive driving to further shake off pursuers.
At least a couple of cars were chased west on Highway 24 and on into Oakland. Reports that shots were fired during the robbery, reported at approximately 1:50 p.m., were confirmed by detectives who found shell casings at the scene. Video confirmed that members of the crew fired the shots through the front glass in order to make their escape. No one was reported injured.
The Hellers store in Bishop Ranch was sealed off and some adjacent businesses invoked a lockdown protocol as investigators moved in to take witness statements.
Initial reports were that multiple suspects took part in the blitz-style robbery – escaping in at least 5 cars, most of which appeared to have been stolen and which later turned up in various locations throughout the valley, possibly pre-selected transfer points where the crews shifted to secondary vehicles.
Air assets trailed several suspects to locations in Oakland and Dublin and arrests were made, according to police, with seven in custody.
They were identified Tuesday as:
Brothers Michael Ray (31, Oakland) and Jimmy Ray (27, Oakland)
Ira Austin (19, Oakland)
Jahkeal McGolthin (18, Oakland)
Jacques Samuel (18, Oakland)
Deandre Demisse (19, Oakland)
17-year-old juvenile (Oakland)
Evasive driving to shake off police? Are the police not trained in pursuit driving? Don’t they have radios? How sad is this. The store owners need to be armed and trained how to use their weapons effectively. Don’t bother if they are not trained. They will shoot up the wrong people. This is not a John Wick movie.
Of course officers are trained in pursuit driving – but when the pursued takes extreme evasive action (e.g. wrong-way driving, driving on the shoulder, etc.) they will terminate rather then further expose the public to the danger.
Game theory says that the “terminate pursuit” policy results in more, not fewer, instances of reckless driving by criminals. If it works every time, criminals will do it.
Of course reading this story … some look at it as a good career path. Teaches them how to work together and they learn that the Extreme Evasive Driving moves will get you to win.
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Something needs to change.
It states arrests were made. So the crooks did not outsmart the San Ramon police.
As frustrating as it is to see the evasion, the human and financial costs we pay because innocents get caught up in these chases is astronomical. I don’t want to die or have my kid get run over on his bike because the police are chasing down someone for a Rolex, Lexus, Nikes, insert material item here. The good guys are routinely sued when these chases go south because they’re perceived to have deep pockets vs the scumbags they chased. Also, no one is shrugging and saying oh well, they got away. Quite a bit of chase takes place. SRPD collared these losers, as
they did with the last batch in Aug of 2023. With excellent police work, collaboration, and the use all available tools they played the long game and got convictions.
Nicely said and completely agree.
If I recall this jewelry store was hit before. And when I’ve visited it there’s been a security guard present but thugs figured it was obviously no deterrent. Some high end stores lock you in – that happened when I went to the Gucci store at Livemore (now SF) Factory Outlets. You would have to shoot your way out. From the video it appears they were having difficulty exiting but IDK.
They probably would not have been caught without the new police drone. Should officers be replaced by AI. Cheaper, faster response times, less danger to the public, seemingly overall more effective.
Interesting observation, Jam, as we have been looking at this factor ourselves. Timely deployment of an observing drone not only led to some amazing video of the crew’s getaway, but we’re guessing gave operators a choice look at plates, unexposed faces, etc. We’re guessing next-phase will employ an FPV drone deploying a Starchase-like tracker to escaping cars, thus negating the need for a potentially disastrous high-speed chase. Someone still has to go in and put the bracelets on, but your point is well taken.