MERCED, Calif. -- Cell phone video shows about a dozen people inside a mall jewelry store in Central California busting glass display cases and stealing merchandise.

"There was jewelry flying everywhere and glass flying everywhere," said Graciela Pena.

Merced Police say they were called to the Merced Mall just before 1 p.m. Tuesday for a disturbance involving a group of 10 to 15 male juveniles and adults.

Video shows thieves shatter jewelry store glass displays at mall in Central California
By Jessica Harrington
Wednesday, February 9, 2022 9:33PM
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Cell phone video shows about a dozen people inside a mall jewelry store in Central California busting glass display cases and stealing merchandise.
MERCED, Calif. -- Cell phone video shows about a dozen people inside a mall jewelry store in Central California busting glass display cases and stealing merchandise.

"There was jewelry flying everywhere and glass flying everywhere," said Graciela Pena.

RELATED: CHP recovers $185,000 worth of stolen merchandise, including items from Louis Vuitton in SF

Merced Police say they were called to the Merced Mall just before 1 p.m. Tuesday for a disturbance involving a group of 10 to 15 male juveniles and adults.

Investigators learned the group showed up to the mall with masks and hammers, smashed the jewelry cases at Prestigio Jewelers, stole items and then took off.

Employees at the Baskin Robbins near the entrance saw the suspects come and go.

"They were running out, you could see the hammers in their hands when they were running out," said Baskin Robbins employee Patricia Bibee.

Merced Police are still trying to determine the total value of the jewelry that was stolen.

Officials say this an unusual event for this community.

"We typically see these types of incidents in the Bay Area and other cities that are maybe not prosecuting these types of cases. We don't typically see that here in Merced," said Merced Police Lt. Emily Foster.

Investigators say they've obtained surveillance video and cell phone video and are now searching for the group involved.

One of the witnesses says it's sad these crimes are happening in Merced.

"It just feels like this is just more common everyday. Like, it didn't even surprise me that it was happening and that's the sad reality, that it didn't even surprise me," Pena said.

No one was injured during the incident. Anyone with information or other cell phone video is asked to call Merced Police at 209-385-6905.

Port Orchard police are looking for a man seen on video Wednesday ramming a stolen car into a patrol vehicle in the Goodwill parking lot to make his getaway, despite efforts by officers to block him to keep him from fleeing.

By the end of the video, posted to the streaming service Streamable and filmed by an unidentified bystander, the stolen car struck at least one other nearby car before speeding off.

Port Orchard Police Chief Matt Brown said car thefts are spiking in the city — as they are across Kitsap County and elsewhere. With new limits restricting how officers can pursue suspects, officers had attempted to stop the suspect from fleeing by boxing him in, knowing they could not chase him if drove away.

“It didn’t quite work out the way we wanted,” Brown said. “He was able to get away, but we know who he is and intend to pick him up at a later time.”

Police were called to the Goodwill, 1700 Mile Hill Drive, at about 9:50 a.m. after receiving a call about an occupied stolen car. Three officers responded and attempted to box in the driver.

What followed, as shown in the video, is the suspect repeatedly striking one police car — a statement from the department said the driver actually struck two police cars as well as two other cars in the parking lot, before escaping.

The crimes for which the driver is suspected — third-degree assault, hit and run and possession of a stolen car — do not qualify as offenses for which officers can pursue, Brown said.

Officers can pursue drivers if they have strong evidence that the person committed certain serious violent offenses, but third-degree assault does not count.

“Even that assault is not enough for us to chase him,” Brown said.

Officers from multiple agencies assisted Port Orchard police in tracking the suspect over the course of the next several hours, the department said in a statement.

Brown said the video of the incident was dramatic, but he appreciated that nobody was injured.