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# Cops nab looters red-handed
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/burglars-from-page-1-cops-nab-looters-red-handed/
- Published: 2003-09-26T15:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-23T03:00:23.000Z
- Author: John Wood
- Tags: Crime, Montana, #archive-import

*BURGLARS, from page 1 Cops nab looters red-handed*

Santa Monica police arrested three suspects who tore the counters off a glass display case in a Montana Avenue jewelry store Thursday and grabbed thousands of dollars worth of merchandise.

All three were booked for grand theft after the roughly 1:50 p.m. crime at JJ Design, 1307 Montana Ave., police said.

Just one employee was in the store at the time of the burglary.

“Thank goodness nobody was hurt,” said the owner of the store, who asked to be identified only as Judy. “There was a woman sitting in a car who thought they looked suspicious and she took down the license plate.”

Santa Monica police, responding to the crime, stopped a blue minivan near the 11th Street and Georgina Avenue, said Lt. Frank Fabrega, the department spokesmen.

“They went into the store... and they pried open several display cases, removing several thousand dollars worth of jewelry,” said Fabrega.

A witness identifed the two men and the woman arrested as the looters, Fabrega said, adding that the stolen jewelry was found on the suspects and in the minivan.

JJ Design is a locally owned independent business that has been in Santa Monica 11 years, the owner said. She was trying to determine what was taken Wednesday evening.

Police withheld the names of the suspects, who were locked up in the Santa Monica jail.

Hugo Toscano, a construction worker who was in front of the house on 11th Street when the suspects were pulled over, said police were trying to talk to the suspects in several languages. Apparently, they did not speak English well.

After being pulled over, the suspects stayed in the van for about 15 minutes until police ordered them out, Toscano said.

Separately, prosecutors charged three men arrested Wednesday morning in Santa Monica for several home burglaries.

Bruce Campbell, 24, was booked for burglary and felony probation violation; Clayton Henderson, 18, was booked for burglary and felony probation violation; and Brandon Robinson, 21, who was booked for burglary, Fabrega said. Cambell and Henderson were denied bail, while Robinson was being held in lieu of $75,000 bail, he said.

The three, all Los Angeles residents, were stopped about 10:30 a.m. in the 800 block of Yale Street, and police found evidence from a burglary in Los Angeles, Fabrega said.

In a seach of their homes, detectives also found other evidence linking them to burglaries in Santa Monica, he said, though he did not have specifics on the crimes.

Anyone with more information about these crimes were urged to Sgt. Lowe at (310) 458-8453 or Detective Bambrick at (310) 458-8932.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/55/9f/559f9abc-8372-4a2e-8c2d-27386da4e363/content/images/2026/10/092603-01_01-7.jpg)

Three suspects sit handcuffed moments after being arrested in Montana Avenue jewelry store holdup. (Photo: John Wood/Daily Press)

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on September 26, 2003.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/092603.pdf?ref=smdp.com)