2 arrested in Petaluma smash-and-grab robbery, additional suspects sought

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PETALUMA, Calif. - Two men were arrested after a smash-and-grab robbery at a Petaluma jewelry store on Saturday afternoon, and police are searching for four other suspects.

What we know:

Petaluma Police Department officers were called just after 4:45 p.m. to the Gold Rush Jewelers store at 385 North McDowell Blvd. on reports of six armed suspects entering the building and smashing display cases, according to a department statement.

Police also reported that an "uninvolved bystander" saw the suspects enter the building and "drove the suspect’s unattended vehicle into the front of the store."

"The crash prompted the suspects to flee. Once outside the store one suspect pepper sprayed the bystander as he attempted to get away from the vehicle," the PPD said. "Four suspects then entered the vehicle and drove out of the shopping center while two others ran from the area."

The bystander was treated and released for minor injuries, and no one else was reported injured in the robbery.

The vehicle was later found abandoned in a nearby neighborhood, and was determined to be stolen, police said.

Shortly after the robbery, a bystander on Coronado Drive flagged down a passing police officer and told them that they saw a suspect jumping a fence into a nearby backyard. 

A Sonoma County Sheriff’s Department helicopter was called to the scene and helped officers on the ground find two suspects who were hiding in backyards.

The two suspects were identified as 18-year-old William Butler Clarence of Pittsburgh and 18-year-old Moshae Koron Howell of Antioch. They were booked into jail on suspicion of battery, robbery, battery and conspiracy.

What we don't know:

Police are searching for the four other suspects that were involved in the robbery, and anyone with information was asked to contact PPD Detective Alyssa Hansen at (707)781-1291 or via email at ahansen@cityofpetaluma.org.