Fresno police investigate $300,000 break-in at Fig Garden jewelry store

Fresno police are investigating the theft of an estimated $300,000 in jewelry from a Fig Garden Village store late Sunday night.

Police spokesman Sgt. Jeff La Blue said the smash-and-grab suspects broke two windows at The Vault and made off with high-dollar items, leaving some of the loot strewn across the shopping center parking lot.

He said police are also checking with the Clovis Police Department to determine if the theft is related to a break-in earlier Sunday night of a Target store at Shaw and Clovis avenues, where thieves made off with electronic equipment. In that incident, a group of people in multiple vehicles were involved.

Fresno police also are checking for surveillance video.

“The chief does not consider this a looting, just a burglary and vandalism,” La Blue said on behalf of Chief Andy Hall.

Looting, meanwhile, has occurred around the country in the wake of the death of George Floyd, a black man who died as a Minneapolis white officer kept his knee on Floyd’s neck for more than eight minutes as he struggled to breathe.

This story was originally published June 1, 2020 at 9:33 AM.