San Jose Police Arrest 6 Suspected Members of 'Prolific' Smash-and-Grab Jewelry Store Robbery Crew
SAN JOSE (CBS SF) -- Six members of a robbery crew San Jose police described as "prolific" were arrested following a months-long investigation of smash-and-grab robberies at jewelry stores across the Bay Area.
The suspects, some armed with guns and pepper spray, would enter jewelry stores wearing masks and use sledgehammers and other tools to break open glass display cases and take thousands of dollars worth of jewelry. The robbers would then run to waiting vehicles and flee the scene.
Police said the crimes happened between October 2021 and January 2022 in San Jose. Detectives worked with other local jurisdictions to identify the suspects and during the investigation, they learned of similar cases with the same criminal pattern and suspect descriptions in several other cities and counties. Helping in the investigation were the police departments from Daly City, Palo Alto, Concord, San Mateo, Pittsburg, Antioch, Merced, and Roseville, as well as the U.S. Marshals Service.
After obtaining arrest warrants and residential search warrants, San Jose police worked with Daly City police to serve the warrants and arrest the six suspects. They were identified as Andrew Maravilla, 20, of Hayward; Maurice Sweet,19, of Pittsburg; Charles Evans, 19, of San Leandro, Michael Earle, 18, of Menlo Park; Noah Tekle, 19, of San Leandro; and David Foster, 20, of Newark.
Police seized a number of firearms, including two assault weapons with extended magazines and several ghost guns - one of which was converted to fully automatic fire. Two other people were arrested for firearm possession unrelated to the robberies.
The investigation remained ongoing and anyone with information about the robberies was asked to contact Detective Estantino #4339 of the San José Police Department's Robbery Unit at (408) 277-4166.
