Robbers Flee With Jewels After Smashing Store’s Display Cases

Two men wielding a sledgehammer and a pistol bashed glass display cases at a Westminster jewelry store Tuesday, grabbed valuable jewelry and escaped in a stolen car, police said.

No one was injured, but customers were ordered to lie on the floor at gunpoint during the 2 p.m. robbery at Gold Port Jewelers, Westminster police spokesman Larry Woessner said.

A large amount of jewelry was taken, but the total dollar loss from the robbery was not immediately known, Woessner said, adding that the crime was similar to several other Orange County jewelry store robberies in recent years.

One man held a .45-caliber revolver on customers as the second smashed the glass display cases and scooped out jewelry, Woessner said.

The pair fled the Beach Boulevard store in a white Mustang II with red stripes, which Woessner said was later found abandoned a few blocks away in Midway City. The car had been reported stolen in Pomona on Oct. 16, he said.

The gunman was described by witnesses as being about 25 years old, with black hair and brown eyes, about 130 pounds and 5 feet, 6 inches tall. Woessner said the man with the sledgehammer was described only as being about 28 years old and about the same size.