A gunman in Orange County, California, recently used a staged vehicle collision to rob a jewelry store employee, escaping with cash and jewelry and leaving the victim’s vehicle disabled, just weeks after a similar incident occurred in Los Angeles.
According to the California Highway Patrol (CHP), officers received a call around 1:15 p.m. on Nov. 14 reporting the crash and robbery on the Beach Boulevard onramp onto the 405 Freeway in Huntington Beach, where a maroon Infiniti SUV and white Ford Explorer were used for the heist.
“Several suspects, dressed in dark clothing and wearing masks, approached the victim’s vehicle, robbed the victim at gun point of U.S. currency, jewelry, and fled the scene in the white Ford Explorer,” officials said in a press release the same day.
According to a spokesperson, the planned heist has similarities to a recent Los Angeles incident, where another jewelry store employee was robbed after his car was hit by another vehicle, this time heading eastbound on the I-10 Freeway west of Arlington Avenue.
Four men wearing ski masks in a black Dodge Caravan on Oct. 24 rammed the victim, who was in a black Alfa Romeo, disabling his car. The men were armed with at least one crowbar and hammer, according to the CHP. They stole his jewelry and fled in a white Chevrolet Malibu, authorities said.
The incidents are being investigated for any relation between the two, with the suspects currently at large, according to police.
“There’s obviously some consistencies with both cases. ... The jewelry and cash were consistent, the staged collision was consistent, but the weapons used were different,” Officer Jake Sanchez, with the CHP, told The Epoch Times.
Anyone with information regarding the Huntington Beach incident should call (657) 391-4017 or investigator Joaquin Gill at (714) 240-3754. For the Los Angeles incident, call (323) 644-9550.
