Robbers Hold 4-Year-Old At Gunpoint During Salinas Jewelry Store Heist
SALINAS (CBS SF) -- Two men held a four-year-old boy at gunpoint while they robbed a jewelry store in Salinas Friday afternoon, according to police.
Officers responded at 2:38 p.m. to a report of an armed robbery at Don Roberto Jewelers, located at 1033 E. Alisal St., police said.
Police said a white Cadillac Escalade backed up into the handicapped stall in front of the store.
A woman and a four-year-old boy were being buzzed into the business, when police said a man wearing a bandana and carrying a silver handgun grabbed the boy.
He threatened to shoot the child if the owners didn't give them the keys to the jewelry, police said. One of the owners complied, passing off a key to the man with a handgun.
The suspect handed the child off to his accomplice, who was armed with a shotgun and who also held the child at gunpoint, police said.
The man with a handgun took jewelry from the display case and then his accomplice released the boy, according to police. They both ran back to the car and drove west on Alisal Street.
The suspects were both masked with bandanas, spoke English and Spanish, and at one point told the other to "check the scanner," according to police.
Salinas police Cmdr. Michael Groves said no further description of the suspects was available. As of Friday afternoon, the department was waiting on the jewelry store's corporate leadership to release video footage.
"It's really bad," Groves said of the brazen midday robbery. "To grab a kid when they didn't need to, it's really strange."
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