By Khalida Sarwari
Police are investigating a series of thefts of gold necklaces from young girls at three different San Jose elementary schools over the past month.
The thefts occurred between Oct. 18 and Nov. 8 during school hours at R. F. Kennedy Elementary, Washington Elementary, and Grant Elementary, according to police.
Police suspect the same person is involved in all three cases and all of the victims were elementary school-aged Hispanic girls between 6 and 8 years old who were wearing gold necklaces.
At each school, the suspect is alleged to have approached a victim, pretended to be a family friend and engaged the victim in conversation.
After having gained the student’s trust, the suspect would remove the student’s necklace from their necks without any force, and leave the campus with the victim’s gold necklace, according to police.
In two of the cases, the suspect replaced the gold necklaces with costume jewelry-type necklaces, police said.
The suspect is described as a Hispanic woman in her 30s, of medium height and build, and with brown hair. She has been seen with a male toddler, who is possibly a relative, between 3 and 5 years old.
Police are advising parents and school staff to speak to their children and students about the dangers of talking to strangers.
Anyone with information about the thefts is asked to call Detective Hau Ngo at (408) 277-4521. Those wishing to remain anonymous may call Silicon Valley Crime Stoppers at (408) 947-STOP (7867) or visit: http://svcrimestoppers.org/.
