Jewelry Thieves Concoct Ruse To Steal Manhattan Beach Woman's Necklace

MANHATTAN BEACH, CA — Jewelry thieves concocted a ruse to steal a woman's necklace in front of her home in Manhattan Beach on Wednesday, according to police.

According to police, the victim was walking up to her driveway at around 12 p.m. when a man in a blue sedan or SUV pulled up to ask her for directions. The driver asked the victim how to get to Whole Foods before handing her his cellphone and asking her to speak into it for translation.

When the victim moved to hand the man back his phone, he grabbed her wrist and attempted to put a gold ring and two gold chains on her. As the victim pulled away, another woman leaned out of the rear passenger window and grabbed the victim, pulling the chain off her neck.

"The victim attempted to grab her chain back, but the male suspect drove the car away, knocking the victim to the ground," the Manhattan Beach Police Department said in a statement.

When police arrived on the scene in the 3400 block of Palm Avenue at 12:10 p.m., they collected the jewelry the suspects attempted to put on the victim for DNA testing. The MBPD Detective Bureau canvassed the neighborhood for video surveillance.

The suspects were described as Middle Eastern . The woman was approximately 40-years-old with black hair and rhe man was approximately 30-40 years old, MBPD said.