LOS GATOS -- Police found the getaway car used in the brazen Tuesday smash-and-grab robbery of a downtown jewelry store, and hope someone may have seen something suspicious happen in the busy Miles Avenue parking lot where the vehicle was ditched minutes after the crime.

"The likelihood is that someone was waiting for the robbers in a car, or they abandoned their car and jumped into another one they drove themselves," said Los Gatos police Sgt. Kerry Harris.

He said the lot, which is about four blocks from the University Avenue jewelry store that was robbed, is popular with people using the Los Gatos Creek Trail and also the site of the city's sandbagging station.

Blacy's Jewelry was robbed around 12:09 p.m., after witnesses saw two men don ski masks, draw black semi-automatic handguns and rush into the store. The robbers then threatened staff and smashed a number of jewelry cases, snatching the contents. One went behind a counter and looted an unlocked safe, Harris said.

A witness saw them flee in a car, which was described as a blue Acura with a Washington plate, and provided police with the plate number. Within 10 minutes, a gray Volkswagen Jetta was located at the lot that had North Carolina plates, but a matching plate number. A small amount of stolen jewelry was found in and around the car.


"Certainly in the grand scheme of things, what was most important is that the witness got us the license plate number," Harris said. "He focused on what was most important and it paid dividends."

Police also released a store video of the robbery that is available at www.mercurynews.com.

Anyone with information is asked to call Los Gatos/Monte Sereno police at 408-827-3219 or 408-354-8600.
