YUBA CITY, CA (MPG) - Masked suspects used sledgehammers to smash display cases and steal an estimated $250,000 in jewelry Aug. 7 from a store inside the Yuba Sutter Marketplace, the latest smash-and-grab robbery targeting a Yuba City jewelry store this year.

The suspects entered the store at about 2:33 p.m., took the jewelry and fled the mall at 1215 Colusa Ave., according to the Yuba City Police Department. No injuries were reported.

Police later found an abandoned vehicle outside Yuba City believed to have been used in the robbery. The vehicle had previously been reported stolen.

The robbery follows a similar incident Jan. 18 at a jewelry store in the 400 block of Palora Avenue, where four suspects were accused of stealing about $1 million in gold jewelry.

In that robbery, three masked suspects armed with hammers entered the store while a fourth waited outside in a vehicle. The store owner suffered minor injuries after being struck in the chest with a hammer.

A witness followed the getaway vehicle and provided updates to police before the suspects abandoned it near Richland Road and Estates Drive. Police later determined the vehicle had been reported stolen in Oakland earlier that day.

Officers initially arrested two suspects, including Maurice Lee Jackson, 32, of Oakland, and a juvenile. Investigators later identified Michael Sanders, 24, and Kylen Byrd, 21, as the other two suspects. Police reported that Sanders and Byrd were subsequently taken into custody in Alameda County.

Police have not said whether investigators believe the Jan. 18 and Aug. 7 robberies are connected.

No arrests had been announced in the latest robbery as of Aug. 10.

Anyone with information can contact the Yuba City Police Department at 530-822-4661.