Authorities are looking for a woman allegedly behind several grab-and-run jewelry store robberies who claimed on at least one occasion that she is an influencer.
El Cajon, Calif.—Authorities are on the lookout for a grab-and-run robber posing as an influencer.
According to a Jan. 5 crime alert from the Jewelers’ Security Alliance, the suspect is believed to have been behind several grab-and-runs in recent months.
In late December, a woman walked into a Daniel’s Jewelers store around 2 p.m. and asked to see gold necklaces, according to police in El Cajon, California.
She entered the store wearing a hot pink jacket and was decked out in jewelry. She said she was an influencer, police said.
Surveillance footage shows the woman believed to be behind several grab-and-run robberies in California, Arizona, and Michigan.
A store employee took out several gold necklaces from a display for her to try on.
“At one point, she steps away and makes a phone call on her cell phone,” Sgt. Kevin Reilly said in an interview with ABC10 News.
“She returns back to the counter and informs the clerk that she’ll take it, and then she grabs the handful of jewelry and runs out of the business.”
The gold necklaces were worth an estimated $36,000.
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Parking lot surveillance photos spotted the car with a getaway driver at the wheel.
Using the license plate number, police have identified the alleged thief as Angelina Ordonez, 23, who has addresses in San Diego and Yuma, Arizona.
Police said she committed a similar robbery that same day in nearby Escondido and two weeks earlier in Carlsbad.
Authorities are looking at Ordonez as a suspect in several other grab-and-run thefts at jewelry stores in Southern California, Arizona, and Michigan.
A spokesperson from the El Cajon Police Department described Ordonez as a “nomad,” but said he felt confident she would soon be caught. The next step is issuing a warrant for her arrest.
Ordonez was detained for shoplifting in Arizona earlier this month, ABC10 reported, but because the theft warrants have not yet been issued, she was released.
Whether or not she is actually an influencer has not yet been confirmed.
In its crime alert, JSA recommended jewelers only show one item at a time as a way to limit the amount that can be stolen in the event of a grab-and-run robbery.
The organization also shared a list of suspects in several states wanted for grab-and-run robberies, including Florida, Arizona, Colorado, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Georgia, Texas, and New York.
