19-year-old arrested in connection to December jewelry store smash-and-grab in Sacramento

SACRAMENTO -- A 19-year-old Stockton man is in jail after being connected to a smash-and-grab robbery at a jewelry store in south Sacramento. It happened twice at the same store in December and February.

"We believe the same group of suspects were connected to both of those incidents," Detective Chris Robertson said.

The store's surveillance video, recently released by the Sacramento County Sheriff's Office, shows seven suspects rushing inside the store, smashing display windows and taking more than $250,000 worth of jewelry.

"The customers and employees were scared during the incident and actually hid within the back room," Robertson said.

The second incident shows two suspects, smashing display windows and taking off with about $30,000 worth of jewelry.

A witness of the crime was able to capture a picture of the license plate of the get-away car which led investigators to 19-year-old Julian Lomeli.

Lomeli was arrested Thursday morning and was booked into the San Joaquin County Sheriff's office.

The Sacramento County Sheriff's Office said they are still investigating and will likely make more arrests. They believe all six other suspects are juveniles.