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Corte Madera Store Held-Up With Pepper Spray

CORTE MADERA (BCN) -- The Twin Cities Police Authority is trying to identify three suspects who used pepper spray during the Friday robbery of a consignment store in Corte Madera, police said, two months after a Danville shop was robbed in the same manner.

Friday's ordeal began at 10:27 a.m., when two men armed with pepper spray entered the Home Consignment Center at 801 Tamalpais Drive, according to a report prepared by Detective David Woo.

One of the suspects was seen wearing a black hooded sweatshirt, black pants, black gloves, black and white athletic shoes, and a black mask, Woo said.

A second suspect was also wearing a mask, black pants, and black gloves, but his hooded sweatshirt was red, Woo said. Both men had an average build, he said.

Both of the men sprayed customers and employees in the store with pepper spray to subdue them, then smashed glass display cases and stole an undisclosed amount of jewelry, Woo said.

After the heist, the men fled the store to a waiting silver or light blue Dodge Charger, Mitsubishi, or similar sports-type car, where a third suspect was drove the men away, Woo said.

The men were involved in two hit-and-run crashes during their escape, both of which occurred on the Blithedale Avenue overpass to U.S. Highway 101 in Mill Valley, Woo said.

The suspects' vehicle was last seen traveling at excessive speed on northbound Highway 101, Woo said.

This is the second robbery of a Bay Area consignment store that involved the use of pepper spray in the past two months.

On the morning of Sept. 24 - at 10:26 a.m., a consignment store in Danville also called Home Consignment Center was robbed by three men who sprayed employees and customers with pepper spray before shattering a display case and stealing jewelry, according to Danville police Sgt. Steve Simpkins.

Those suspects were seen wearing masks, gloves, and hooded sweatshirts during the crime, making it difficult for witnesses to identify even the most basic factors that could lead to the men's identification, Simpkins said.

The men in the September Home Consignment Center robbery fled the scene in a waiting getaway vehicle driven by a fourth suspect, Simpkins said. The suspect vehicle in that case was described only as a sedan, he said.

Anyone with information about the Friday morning robbery in Corte Madera is asked to call the Twin Cities Police Authority at (415) 927-5167.

(© CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Bay City News contributed to this report.)

 

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