Pepper Spray Smash-and-Grab Hits Zales at Pleasanton Mall

Shoppers at Stoneridge Shopping Center found themselves running for safety when thieves used hammers and pepper spray in a smash-and-grab at Zales Jewelers around 11:30 a.m., turning an ordinary mall visit into a scene of panic. Cellphone video showed suspects striking at the store with hammers as employees and customers scattered, while the jewelry case displays that usually signal occasion buying became the center of a fast-moving crime.

The robbery hit one of Pleasanton’s busiest retail corridors, inside a shopping center the city describes as a staple with more than 140 top brands and restaurants. That visibility is part of what made the crime so alarming. Tina Deng, who works at Yuyake Dandan Japanese Tapas nearby, said she hid in a hallway restroom area while the theft unfolded. The impact was immediate not just for Zales, but for everyone in the mall who suddenly had to calculate exits, cover, and whether the threat was still moving through the property.

Pleasanton police are investigating the robbery, which has also been logged in the Jewelers’ Security Alliance crime-news feed. That placement matters: jewelry-store smash-and-grabs are no longer being treated as isolated thefts but as part of a broader security pattern across the trade. Scott Guginsky of the Jewelers’ Security Alliance said rising precious-metal prices have made jewelry stores more attractive targets, pointing to gold that had peaked at about $5,200 an ounce before closing around $4,600 an ounce.

For a mall that has spent years in the civic spotlight, the timing sharpened the concern. The City of Pleasanton approved the Stoneridge Mall Framework in December 2023 and issued a planning update memorandum on January 29, 2026, underscoring how central the site is to the city’s commercial future. Yet the mall has also carried a longer burden of robbery-related reporting, with incidents cited in 2016, 2017, 2021, and 2024. This latest attack suggests that as gold jewelry stays visible in open retail settings, mall operators face a harder question: how to protect high-value inventory when smash-and-grab crews are willing to strike in broad daylight, in front of everyone.