Modesto Jewelry Store Victimized By Smash-And-Grab Burglary

MODESTO (CBS13) - Police are investigating a smash-and-grab burglary that occurred Thursday night at a north Modesto jewelry store.

Modesto Police officers were called to Rogers Jewelers, located at 3600 Sisk Road, at about 11:23 p.m. for a report of a commercial burglary. When officers arrived they discovered a red truck had been driven into the front doors of the business and left abandoned.

In a press release, police said "thousands of dollars" of merchandise was stolen, but Rogers CEO Bart Marks issued a statement Friday afternoon saying that, because of security measures, only a few hundred dollars worth of jewelry was seized.

"All of our valuables are moved each night to an impenetrable safe and are not accessible by any method of forced entry," he said. ... "We look forward to reopening the Modesto store on Saturday in time for any last-minute Mother's Day shoppers."

Surveillance video from the business showed four to five suspects entered the jewelry store and took various jewelry items. The suspects then fled the store, leaving the truck behind.

Officers determined the truck had recently been stolen from a nearby neighborhood. Officers located a trail of stolen jewelry, which led the officers across Sisk Road, through an opening at the chain-link fence that borders the northbound Highway 99 freeway and onto the shoulder of the freeway itself.

After a few yards the trail ended, which indicated the suspects may have gotten into a waiting vehicle along the side of the freeway.

In the surveillance video, the suspects were seen wearing dark colored hooded sweatshirts and hats that concealed their identities.
Anyone with information on the burglary suspects is asked to call Crime Stoppers at (209) 521-4636 or by sending a text message to 274637. Type "TIP704" and then the message.