Pasha Fine Jewelry Experiences 2nd Robbery In One Year
Mar 22, 2023 07:55PM ● By Jeanne Fratello
Police block off Manhattan Beach Blvd. at Highland Ave. on March 22, 2023 following a robbery at Pasha Fine Jewelry. Photo via William Jason.
UPDATE: Seven suspects have been arrested in the Pasha robbery.
Pasha Fine Jewelry in Downtown Manhattan Beach experienced its second robbery in less than one year on Wednesday evening.
(Photo via a resident who had been parked outside Pasha)The Manhattan Beach Police Department released the following statement on Wednesday night:
On Wednesday, March 22, 2023 at 5:53 p.m., the Manhattan Beach Police Department responded to Pasha Fine Jewelry (217 Manhattan Beach Blvd.) regarding a smash and grab robbery. Multiple suspects entered the jewelry store, used hammers to break display cases, and fled the store with miscellaneous merchandise. The suspects entered awaiting vehicles and fled the scene southbound in an alley. Multiple suspects were armed with what appeared to be handguns. No shots were fired. Detectives were notified and the investigation is ongoing.
MBPD Detectives ask community members who witnessed this incident, who personally took video or photographs, or anyone who has any information pertinent to this incident, to contact Detective Mikelson at (310) 802-5121, or the MBPD Tip Line (310) 802-5171 if you wish to remain anonymous.
Pasha Experienced Armed Robbery in June 2022
Pasha experienced an armed robbery on June 24, 2022. That robbery took place just before 7:00 p.m., when
it was still light outside and when the downtown was bustling with
diners and shoppers.
According to the Manhattan Beach Police Department, during that robbery, multiple suspects
entered the jewelry store, used hammers to break display cases, and fled
the store with miscellaneous merchandise. The suspects entered awaiting
vehicles and fled the scene southbound in an
alley. At least three suspects were armed with what appeared to be
handguns. No shots were fired.
A widely circulated video on social media
showed suspects grabbing at jewelry in a display window. Then 11
suspects, mostly dressed in dark colors and all with their heads and
faces covered, head down Bayview Drive into three waiting cars that sped away.
Since that robbery, MBPD has said that it is "pursuing every avenue and every lead, working tirelessly to bring these perpetrators to justice."
At a community police forum earlier this month, MBPD Chief Rachel Johnson commented on the June 2022 Pasha robbery:
"This case is very important to us, and the investigation is
ongoing, and the amount of work that Detective Mikelson has put into it
already, is quite simply put, astonishing," said Johnson. "However, not
everything that we have before us has the evidentiary value that you
might think it would."
For instance, she
said, although video and photo images captured the license plates on the
getaway cars in the June robbery, that doesn't necessarily lead to the criminals: A
criminal could steal a car, or steal a license plate and put it on
another car.
Regarding whether
police should have given chase, either for that case or any other case,
she said, "Our decisions to pursue vehicles are really based on the
circumstances we have before us at the time, and always one of our
considerations is the seriousness of the crime, but also the danger to
the public in pursuing."
"With Pasha [last June]," Johnson said, "we were pretty close to the car, but we could never see it. While we sent officers to all of our exit points in the city when we received a report of this crime, we were never actually able to see the car so that we could pursue it... It would really just be very dangerous for us to drive very quickly and not safely when we can't even see any of the vehicles as they're leaving the city."
"With Pasha [last June]," Johnson said, "we were pretty close to the car, but we could never see it. While we sent officers to all of our exit points in the city when we received a report of this crime, we were never actually able to see the car so that we could pursue it... It would really just be very dangerous for us to drive very quickly and not safely when we can't even see any of the vehicles as they're leaving the city."
