Suspects sought in Rolex robbery

-- Deepa Bharath

SOUTH COAST PLAZA -- Authorities are still looking for two masked

gunmen who robbed a jewelry store in South Coast Plaza on Friday night.

The men escaped with several Rolex watches from Tourneau Watch Company

in the shopping center, said Lt. John FitzPatrick of the Costa Mesa

Police Department. He said the value of the stolen goods was not known.

The robbers, who entered the store around closing time at 9 p.m.

wearing full ski masks and armed with a handgun and an assault rifle,

quickly ordered several employees and a customer to the ground. The men

asked one employee to open a display case, took the gold watches and fled

in a waiting green Honda Accord, police said. No shots were fired and

nobody was injured.

It was the first time in about 100 years of business that a Tourneau

Watch Company store was robbed, said Anthony D’Ambrosio, executive vice

president of the New York-based company.

“We’re obviously in shock,” he said. “It’s a natural response.”

Although it was a first-time experience for Tourneau, jewelry thefts

are far from alien to the area.

In May 1997, two armed men robbed South Coast Plaza’s Ben Bridge

jewelry store of $325,000 in diamonds and Rolex watches. A month later,

four masked gunmen escaped with several watches from Charles Barr

Jewelers in Newport Beach. Last year, two traveling salespeople lost $1.5

million in diamond-encrusted jewelry to thieves in Fashion Island’s

parking lot.