Five men were charged in a federal case after a brazen smash-and-grab robbery at Heller Jewelers in San Ramon on March 17, during which more than $1 million worth of jewelry was taken, including Rolex watches according to KTVU. A surprising development in the case has led authorities to suspect an inside law enforcement source was providing sensitive information to the alleged robbers.
The robbers, taking just over a minute to break display cases and steal the jewelry, may not have been aware that one of the stolen Rolex watches contained a hidden GPS tracking device. The GPS chip played a pivotal role in the investigation as it led authorities to critical leads in the case.
Investigators served multiple search warrants in the Bay Area and discovered that Sunia Faavesi, Ryan Montgomery, Paul Tonga, Kyle Vehikite, and John Tupou, who have all been charged, visited casinos to launder money from the robbery. A photograph even captures Tupou posing with a large stack of cash according to the Mercury News.
9 days after @HellerJewelers1 heist in San Ramon, Paul Tonga took this photo of John Tupou fanning cash at a casino, then 3 days after that, got inside info on status of investigation, via friend, from woman working as law enforcement clerk, feds say. @FBISanFrancisco probing her pic.twitter.com/3a65M7B9zC
— Henry K. Lee (@henrykleeKTVU) August 2, 2023
While the GPS tracker provided valuable leads, a text message suggests one of the suspects was receiving inside information about the investigation from an unnamed law enforcement source. The source, believed to work for a police department in San Mateo County, was referred to in text messages as "she". More concerning, the messages indicate information exchange came with a price tag.
San Ramon Police Department Chief Denton Carlson has acknowledged that their investigation is far from over, as some unidentified individuals connected to the incident have not yet been apprehended NBC Bay Area noted.
