20 Robbers With Hammers, Tools Target Bay Area Jeweler: Authorities

SUNNYVALE, CA — About 20 people used hammers and other tools to break display cases while robbing a Sunnyvale jewelry store, according to authorities, who said five people were arrested and charged, while the rest escaped.

Officers responded to a reported robbery in progress around 1:30 p.m. Wednesday at PNG Jewelers in the 700 block of East El Camino Real, authorities said, adding the suspects fled in multiple vehicles before law enforcement arrived, but officers were able to locate two of the vehicles.

Officers tried to stop the vehicles and pursued them onto Highway 101, but ended both chases after losing sight of them, according to the Sunnyvale Department of Public Safety. One of the vehicles was located by another agency and abandoned by five people on Highway 101 near Whipple Avenue in Redwood City, authorities said.

Four of the five people were taken into custody near Industrial Road and Britan Avenue in San Carlos and the fifth was found in the area by a police dog, according to the department. No one was injured and some of the jewelry, which had been discarded from the moving vehicle, was recovered, authorities said.

Tonga Latu, Tavake Esafe, Ofa Ahomana, Kilifi Leaaetoa and Afuhia Lavakeiaho face charges including armed robbery, felony vehicle evasion, resisting arrest, burglary, conspiracy to commit a crime, vandalism, possession of burglary tools and outstanding warrants, according to the department. All five were booked into the Santa Clara County jail, authorities said.

Investigators were looking into whether the robbery was related to a May incident at a Sunnyvale jewelry store that involved multiple suspects, according to the department. Anyone with information is asked to call Detective Thomas McKenzie at 408-730-7110, authorities said.