Lafayette jewelry store targeted in smashandgrab
Apr 24, 2026
(KRON) -- Thieves smashed their way into a jewelry store in Lafayette early this Friday morning.
Watch the full report from KRON4's Rob Nesbitt in the video player above.
Security cameras captured two people breaking into Ware Designs on Mt Diablo Blvd. at 1:52 a.m. Friday. Owner Stephen Ware got
notifications from the cameras a short time later, showing up to see the damages done.
“I found the window broken, the door attempted to be jimmied and two of our cases were broken into,” said Ware.
Footage shows the one person breaking a front window, crawling through and then opening the front door to let a second person inside. Both begin breaking glass cases and stealing the jewelry inside — getting in and out in less than one minute.
Photo courtesy of Ware Designs.
“We’re going to find these guys and we’re going to make them sweat because someone is going to recognize these two guys from the video we have from them, and we’re going to make them sweat,” said Ware. “They are going to be arrested. This isn’t going to go down easy. You don’t come into Lafayette and steal from us.”
This isn’t the first time crime has taken place at the Lafayette shopping plaza. A car drove into the CVS just a few doors down from Ware Designs last March, in an attempt to steal an ATM.
Ware says all expensive jewelry at his store was put away in a safe, so the thieves only got away with less expensive silver. He’s most thankful the crime happened without employees present.
“No one got hurt, no one had a gun shoved in their face, and no one is going to feel trauma from this,” said Ware. “This is nothing more than broken glass and things that can be replaced and things that are just stuff.”
Ware is working on getting the security camera footage to the Lafayette Police Department so they can begin an investigation into Friday’s smash-and-grab incident.
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