THREE MEN HAVE BEEN CHARGED in connection with a brazen jewelry store robbery in San Ramon involving 25 suspects who rushed into the business in a smash-and-grab robbery, the Contra Costa District Attorney’s Office said.
San Francisco residents Michael Lamont Ray, Jr., 31, and Ira Raheem Austin, 19, are charged along with Jimmy Mack Ray, 27, of Vallejo, for alleged second-degree robbery and conspiracy to commit a crime.
On Monday just before 2 p.m., 25 suspects in black stormed into the Heller Jewelers store at the City Center Bishop Ranch shopping center in San Ramon. Surveillance footage showed the mass of suspects with pickaxes smashing display cases and grabbing merchandise. Several suspects were armed with handguns and at least one suspect fired rounds through the store’s front entrance, according to police. No one was injured. According to prosecutors, the thieves made off with more than $1 million in property.
The suspects fled in waiting cars in the City Center parking lot. Officers pursued some of the vehicles but called it off due to the danger to the public. However, law enforcement air support was overhead and continued to track the suspects through Contra Costa County and into Alameda County.
According to police, several suspects were detained in two areas of Oakland and another location in Dublin. According to prosecutors, the charged trio allegedly executed a scheme that began with stealing vehicles and culminated in an escape that involved gunfire.
Each defendant now faces 13 counts of alleged second-degree robbery and one count of conspiracy to commit a crime, with special enhancements due to the value of the stolen property.
“The conspiracy charges detail 11 overt criminal acts that involved a coordinated operation,” said the District Attorney’s Office in a release. “The individuals stole vehicles to use in the crime, forcibly entered the jewelry store, smashed display cases to access and steal valuable merchandise, and fired a weapon to shatter a glass door during their getaway. The suspects then fled the scene in the stolen vehicles and evaded pursuing San Ramon Police officers until officers with Oakland Police were able to apprehend the suspects after they were seen leaving a building on the 9900 block of International Boulevard in Oakland.”
Jimmy Ray will be arraigned on Sept. 29 at 1:30 p.m. in Contra Costa Superior Court in Martinez. The other suspects will be arraigned on a future date set by the court, prosecutors said.
Rally calls on Newsom to fund Prop 36
Local businessowners and activists rallied outside the City Center Bishop Ranch shopping center on Thursday to protest retail theft after the jewelry store robbery.
The small group held up signs that read “Deter Crime,” “Restore Law and Order,” and “Under Siege,” as passing cars honked in support.
They called on Gov. Gavin Newsom to invest more resources into public safety and Proposition 36, a state ballot measure that voters overwhelmingly approved in the November 2024 election. Prop 36 allows for harsher penalties of certain theft and drug crimes that were previously categorized as misdemeanors. The District Attorney’s Office added enhancements to the cases against the suspects based on Prop 36.
“It’s critical that Gov. Newsom hear the residents, the small businesses, and the mayors in the Bay Area and fund public safety and give money to Prop 36 so it can be fully implemented,” said activist Tuan Ngo in a speech.
Since going into effect in December, counties across the state implemented Prop 36 to varying degrees, according to the nonpartisan think tank Public Policy Institute of California.
Prop 36 did not come with a funding source to cover costs of increased enforcement for certain drug and retail crimes. Funding restrictions have contributed to the differences in its implementation.
In June, Newsom denied providing state funding to counties and cities to go toward executing the new provisions with the passage of Prop 36, citing budget constraints amid California’s multi-billion dollar deficit.