Crime

Sparks Fly as Burglars Lose Safe on California Freeway

CrimeMar 21, 2024

Sparks Fly as Burglars Lose Safe on California Freeway

JSA said a man and woman pulled the safe out of an Oakland jewelry store but couldn’t quite get it into their van.

Stock image of police cars with their lights on
Police are on the lookout for the man and woman who broke into a California jewelry store earlier this month and fled with the store’s safe trailing from their van.
Oakland, Calif.—A couple of burglars the Jewelers’ Security Alliance described in a recent crime alert as “bumbling” are still at large after attempting, but failing, to make off with a safe from a California jewelry store. 

The incident occurred earlier this month in Oakland. 

According to JSA, on March 7, a man and a woman used a crowbar to break into a jewelry store in the middle of the night, tied a rope to the store’s safe, and tried to pull it out of the store using a van. 

The rope, which was not strong enough, snapped. So, around 3:45 a.m., they returned with a heavy chain.

The chain worked, sort of. 

According to JSA, they managed to get the safe out of the store. 

JSA said they dragged it down the street for a bit, knocking over garbage cans, before accomplices in a Dodge Challenger arrived and helped them use a winch to lift one end of the safe into the van.

The other end still was dragging on the ground, sparks flying as the van drove on.

 Related stories will be right here … 

Police officers eventually spotted the van with the sparking safe trailing behind and began to pursue the vehicle.

Near an off-ramp of Interstate Highway 580, the safe fell off the van. 

Though both it and the store were heavily damaged in the burglary, all the jewelry in the safe was intact, JSA said. 

Police are still on the lookout for the burglars. 

Anyone with information about the case of the burglars and the sparking safe is asked to contact JSA at 212-687-0328 or jsa2@jewelerssecurity.org.

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