Video: Crooks plow car through jewelry store entrance in broad daylight smash-and-grab. But the suspects got sloppy.



Crooks crashed a car through a jewelry store entrance in a brazen, broad-daylight smash-and-grab heist caught on surveillance and cellphone video Friday afternoon in Southern California.

The Anaheim Police Department said officers responded to Classic Jewelers on East Santa Ana Canyon Road around 2:30 p.m., KTLA-TV reported.

'My life flashed before my eyes.'

Employees told police that multiple suspects intentionally rammed a dark-colored Nissan Rogue into the front of the business to gain entry and steal jewelry, the station said.

"Eight to 10 guys run in with masks, trash cans, and crowbars, hammers, and smash every showcase," the store owner told KTTV-TV.

The owner added to KABC-TV that he told the crooks "'I have a gun. Get out. I have a gun."

Well, they allegedly took the gun, too.

"My gun was on the table. They grabbed my gun, and at that point I thought I was going to get shot," the owner recalled to KTTV.

"My life flashed before my eyes," he added to KTLA.

RELATED: Video: Masked smash-and-grab robbers don't look so scary when jewelry store owner pulls his gun and opens fire

The store owner said the group got away with about $1 million in gold and jewelry, as well as his gun, KTLA noted.

"They took everything within a matter of a minute," he recounted to KTTV. "This is our livelihood.'

The suspects then fled in two Dodge Charger sedans, police told KTLA, adding that the Nissan used to plow through the store's entrance — which was stolen — was driven from the scene.

But one thing ultimately worked in the jewelry store's favor: An employee recorded cellphone video of the escaping vehicles — and their license plates were on the clip.

Subsequently, cops were on the lookout and soon caught up to the cars.

Police told KTLA one of the cars was involved in a multi-vehicle collision, and all four occupants — the driver and three passengers — fled but were soon located and arrested.

Then an Anaheim Police Department air unit located what was believed to be the second suspect vehicle — and that car also was involved in a multi-vehicle crash, police told KTLA. Immediately two males believed to be involved in the jewelry store heist were arrested, and a handgun was recovered at the scene, police added to the station.

Police found trays loaded with stolen jewelry in one of the cars, KTTV said.

Two additional males were arrested hours later in the rear yards of separate residences, police added to KTLA.

RELATED: Cops make progress after mob of violent, hammer-wielding thugs pull off brazen smash-and-grab robbery in broad daylight

Police told KTLA a total of eight suspects — all of whom are under the age of 24 — were identified as:

  • Jose Andres Martinez-Colindres, 24, of Inglewood
  • Leontrey Gipson, 23, of Los Angeles
  • Deondre Jones, 23, of Los Angeles
  • Tylaind Brown, 20, of Compton
  • Khilen Toles, 20, of Inglewood
  • Khamari Toles, 20, of Inglewood
  • Latrell Mathews, 19, of Los Angeles

A 17-year-old male from Los Angeles also was among the arrestees, KTLA said.

The seven adult suspects were booked on suspicion of multiple felonies, pending review by the Orange County District Attorney’s Office, police told KTLA, adding that the juvenile was released to a guardian pending further proceedings.

Several uninvolved motorists were hospitalized in the two vehicle crashes, KTLA reported, adding that their injuries were “non-life-threatening.”

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6 girls dead in Tennessee car crash, all of the children were ejected from the vehicle



Six girls were killed in a tragic car crash early Sunday morning on a freeway in Tennessee.

Authorities say eight people – a man, a woman, and six children – were in a red Toyota Camry traveling near exit 24 on I-24 West in Robertson County, Tennessee. Around 2 a.m., the car allegedly veered off the road and flipped onto the shoulder.

The six girls and the woman were ejected from the car as it rolled. Emergency responders said the Camry was found upside down with "very extensive damage."

A pickup truck was near the crash site, the vehicle slammed into a concrete barrier. Officials aren't yet certain if the two vehicles affected each other or if the pickup truck driver reacted to the Camry crashing by accidentally hitting the barrier.

The driver of the pickup truck was able to walk away from the car accident.

The woman was airlifted to the Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville and the man was rushed to the Skyline Medical Center in Nashville. The woman is in critical condition and the man suffered minor injuries, according to officials.

All six of the children were pronounced dead at the scene – five of the girls were reportedly under the age of 10. One of the girls was a 1-year-old infant.

The names of the injured and deceased had yet to be released.

WKRN-TV reported, "A total of four ambulances responded to the crash site, along with crews from Robertson County EMS, Pleasant View Volunteer Fire Department, Cheatham County EMS and the Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT)."

Robertson County EMS Director Brent Dyer said, "Our office recognizes the incredible difficulty of this scene."

Robertson County Emergency Medical Services is coordinating professional mental health and counseling services for first responders at the fatal car crash.

The deadly crash is being investigated by the Tennessee Highway Patrol.

Robertson County Emergency Medical Services said in a statement, "Please keep the families and persons involved in your thoughts and prayers."

Earlier this month, five children were killed in a heartbreaking car accident in New York. A Nissan Rogue being driven by a 16-year-old boy veered off the road and crashed into a tree in Scarsdale, New York.

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National Transportation Safety Board recommends all new vehicles be equipped with alcohol impairment and speed limiter technology



On Tuesday, the National Transportation Safety Board recommended that all new vehicles come standard with alcohol impairment and speed limiter systems to reduce crashes. The guidance is in response to an investigation into a California collision that the department said could have been avoided with the implementation of available technology.

The investigated crash occurred on January 1, 2021, and involved two adults and seven children. The NTSB found that the collision was caused by an intoxicated motorist driving above the speed limit.

The impaired driver was operating a sport utility vehicle and traveling south on California’s State Route 33. Simultaneously, a pickup truck was headed north on the same road. The SUV was traveling between 88 and 98 mph when it crossed into oncoming traffic and struck the pickup truck.

As a result of the head-on crash, the truck caught fire. All eight occupants of the two vehicles died.

The NTSB argued that the collision was caused by loss of vehicle control resulting from alcohol impairment and excessive speed. The organization stated that because the SUV was traveling at a high rate of speed, the truck did not have enough time to take evasive action.

“Technology could’ve prevented this heartbreaking crash — just as it can prevent the tens of thousands of fatalities from impaired-driving and speeding-related crashes we see in the U.S. annually,” said NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy. “We need to implement the technologies we have right here, right now to save lives.”

The collision investigation led the NTSB to recommend that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration require all new vehicles to be equipped with systems that would prevent the ability to speed and prevent an intoxicated driver from operating a vehicle.

“To prevent alcohol and other drug-impaired driving crashes, the NTSB has called for in-vehicle alcohol detection technology, the lowering of the blood alcohol concentration limit to .05 g/dL or lower, alcohol ignition-interlock devices for people convicted of driving while intoxicated and recommended that regulators develop a standard of practice to improve drug toxicology testing,” the NTSB wrote.

The organization also recommended “a comprehensive strategy to eliminate speeding-related crashes that combines traditional measures like enforcement and regulation with new technological advances like speed limiters and intelligent speed adaptation technology.”

The NTSB noted that impaired drivers remain the leading cause of highway crashes that result in injury. In 2020, 30% of car crash fatalities were caused by intoxicated drivers, a 14% increase from the previous year.

“We have to remember that technology is only part of the solution. To save lives on our roads, we need to look more broadly at the entire transportation system, which includes everything that can prevent a crash,” said Homendy.