Fremont man's jewelry stolen in car break-in after bank visit
FREMONT, Calif. - A Fremont man is experiencing a mix of emotions after his family's jewelry was stolen during a car break-in, following a visit to a bank.
"I’m very angry. More than frustration. Anger comes to me first," the victim told KTVU on Tuesday.
It all began when he visited Chase Bank at Mowry Avenue and Fremont Boulevard on Aug. 23. He accessed his safety deposit box and walked out with two bags full of jewelry to prepare for an Indian religious festival.
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"It also included our ancestors’ jewelry, very sentimental, emotional kind of jewelry," he said.
He had no idea that a group of burglars in an SUV was watching his every move.
"It’s very obvious, I went in with an empty bag, and then came back with two bags full. And I did not bother concealing it," he said.
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They followed him as he drove his Honda Odyssey minivan to the Irvington post office on Trimboli Way, where he stopped to drop off some packages. When he returned, he realized someone had broken a window and taken all his jewelry.
"I was panicked, I looked inside and I saw that all my bags were gone," he said.
Fremont police used city cameras and surveillance video and learned the suspects in a Dodge Journey had followed the victim from the bank.
Later that day, California Highway Patrol officers spotted the SUV in Merced County and recovered the stolen jewelry.
Guadalupe Delcristo Martinez and Carolina Medina Cortes have been charged by Alameda County prosecutors with grand theft.
The victim is grateful – and realizes in hindsight he could have handled the bank visit differently.
"Maybe I could have not have depleted everything. I could have just gotten some of it, but I got all of it because I wanted my wife to have choices," he said.
But he's glad he stopped by the post office first.
"On the flip side, I'm wondering what would have happened if I had gone home, right?" he said.
Henry Lee is a KTVU crime reporter. E-mail Henry at Henry.Lee@fox.com and follow him on Twitter @henrykleeKTVU and www.facebook.com/henrykleefan.