Burglars Smash Stolen SUV Into Stanford Shopping Center, Pull Off Jewel Heist

A stolen SUV crashed into a Stanford Shopping Center department store in Palo Alto where a large amount of jewelry was taken early this morning, police said.

Around 4:15 a.m., a security company called police dispatch about an activated alarm at the store, according to police. Arriving officers found the SUV had crashed into the front glass doors of Bloomingdale’s, where they found multiple glass jewelry display cases were smashed and a substantial amount of jewelry was missing, police said.

Investigators reviewed video footage from the store’s surveillance system that showed a red SUV back up into the front doors and three people, all wearing black-hooded sweatshirts, step out of the vehicle, according to police.

A fourth suspect drove the SUV out of the store and waited for the three other suspects, police said. In about two minutes, the trio had used tools, possibly hammers, to break into the display cases and steal jewelry. They then ran to the waiting SUV and fled, according to police.

Bloomingdale’s employees are looking through the store’s inventory to determine how much jewelry was taken, police said.

Photos taken from the store’s surveillance system show the SUV’s license plate number matches a red 1989 Jeep Cherokee reported stolen Tuesday in the 2200 block of Birch Street, police said. The vehicle theft occurred sometime between last Friday and Tuesday, police said.

An officer found the stolen Jeep unoccupied around 9:45 a.m. today in the 200 block of Palo Alto Avenue and detectives are processing the vehicle for evidence, according to police.

Detectives are looking into whether the Bloomingdale’s case is connected with a similar burglary on Feb. 19 at Keeble & Shuchat Photography on California Avenue, where two suspects drove a minivan into the front of the store and stole tens of thousands of dollars worth of merchandise, according to police. Story here: Two in Minivan Drive Into Palo Alto Camera Store, Swipe Merchandise.

Anyone with information about the Bloomingdale’s case is asked to call Palo Alto police at (650) 329-2413.

--Bay City News

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