SAN JOSE — Police arrested an eighth suspect Oct. 3 on suspicion of his involvement in a high-profile September jewelry store smash and grab that made international headlines after the store’s elderly owner suffered a stroke and heart attack due to the stress of the incident, authorities said.
Julian Gacutan, a 19-year-old resident of South San Francisco, joins seven other suspects who were already booked into jail on suspicion of robbing Kim Hung Jewelry Store on Aborn Road in San Jose on Sept. 5, acccording to a news release from the San Jose Police Department.
“I said it before and I’ll say it again: hiding behind a mask in a crowd of thugs will not shield you from accountability,” Brian Shab, SJPD assistant chief of police, said in a statement. “This additional arrest proves that your temporary flight from justice won’t stop us from finding you and arresting you.”
Police believe there are a total of more than a dozen robbers who drove a vehicle into the front of the jewelry store and made off with “thousands of dollars” of jewelry and other items, authorities said. One of the robbers pointed a gun at the head of the shopowner’s son, and another violently shoved the 88-year-old owner to the ground.
“Each and every day, our police department makes San José safer,” Mayor Matt Mahan said in a statement. “With this latest arrest, we are one step closer to ensuring every single person involved in this cowardly crime faces the consequences of their actions.”
Gacutan’s arrest occurred the same day that police announced the arrest of the first seven suspects for their alleged involvement in the crime. He was arrested in Oakland with the assistance of the San Ramon Police Department, then later trasferred into SJPD’s custody, authorities aid. He was booked into Santa Clara County Main Jail on suspicion of robbery.
The robbery was one of several smash and grabs that made headlines across the Bay Area in recent weeks. Investigators linked an East Oakland gang to dozens of robberies, and twenty people stormed a San Ramon jewelry store Sept. 22.
On Sept. 5, a car rammed into the front of the jewelry store where the elderly owner worked with his son. More than a dozen robbers rushed into the store, smashing jewelry cases. The robbers fled shortly after their arrival.
Only a minute later, a second group of robbers rushed the store, then fled immediately after they saw that nothing was left to take.
Bui, the store’s owner who has been identified only by his family’s name, suffered a stroke after the attack, then later a heart attack in the hospital while recovering. Doctors confirmed that the stroke and heart attack were due to the stress of the incident.
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The robbery also prompted the creation of a countywide program funded by the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office that provides small businesses with funding to install concrete planters to block cars from driving into storefronts and connect security cameras to SJPD’s real-time intelligence center.
Anyone with further information on this case is asked to contact Detective Hernandez #4392 at [email protected] or 408-277-4166.