3 Men Rob Dealer of $300,000 in Jewelry
COSTA MESA — A Portland gem dealer was robbed Sunday night of $300,000 in jewelry by three armed men as he and his wife returned to their hotel from a gem show at the Orange County Fairgrounds, police said.
The dealer, identified as Thomas James Eppler, 49, was struck on his head as he bent over to retrieve two jewelry cases from his car trunk, Costa Mesa Police Sgt. George Yezbick said. Eppler’s wife, Paula Marie, was sitting in the car when the armed men struck her husband.
Paramedics treated Eppler for a head injury. He did not require hospitalization, Yezbick said.
The robbery occurred about 7 p.m. in the parking lot of the Super 8 Motel on Harbor Boulevard, where the Epplers were staying.
Yezbick said the bandits, who were armed with semiautomatic handguns, grabbed the jewelry cases before speeding away in a late-model car, possibly a black Acura.
Investigators think the suspects followed the couple from the gem show. Robbers don’t “just happen to be in the same parking lot with someone with $300,000 worth of gems,†Yezbick said.
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