Sacramento Weather Updates

‘An overwhelming three days.’ Sacramento jeweler has two stores vandalized, looted

Sharif Fine Jewelers in Sacramento got vandalized again Sunday night, but so did a lot of places downtown.

What was more disheartening, perhaps, was that looters also targeted Sharif’s store — and Sharif’s store only — in a cluster of businesses in Carmichael.

The Sharif Jewelers Vault on Marconi Avenue had its windows smashed in as roaming bands of looters fanned out after police descended on the area around the Capitol and broke up a mainly peaceful day of protest over the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

The vast majority of the vandalism and ransacking occurred in downtown and midtown. The Sharif store in Carmichael appeared to be the only business targeted for miles around. A neighboring 99 Cents Only store and Jack-in-the-Box restaurant had no visible signs of damage.

“I think that was someone intentionally trying to take advantage of the situation,” said Omar Sharif, who serves as a spokesman for his family’s chain of jewelry stores.

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“It’s been an overwhelming three days,” he said. “I’ve got a combined three hours sleep the last three days. It’s just been terrible.”

Sharif said Sacramento County sheriff’s deputies responded to the alarm quickly and it wasn’t clear if anything was taken from the Carmichael store, which serves as a retail “annex” for his other three stores in the region.

Of course, jewelry stores are an obvious target for looters. The Jared store on Arden Way in Sacramento was vandalized late Sunday but an employee said every piece of jewelry was safely tucked away in the store’s vault. It appeared that no other business in the Arden area was damaged, although would-be looters were cruising near Arden Fair mall, which was guarded by police, and the mall was closed Monday.

Sharif’s Carmichael store was boarded up Monday, and Sharif said a family member was working to get the downtown store boarded up again after it was hit a second time.

“It’s unfortunate, and we really just never have been in a position like this before,” said Sharif, whose company was founded by family in Jerusalem in the 1930s. The Sharifs came to America and opened their first Sacramento area store, on Howe Avenue, in the early 1980s.

Sharif said much of his attention has been focused on the fate of his downtown store, at 10th and K streets, in the wake of two straight nights of looting.

Much of the loss occurred Saturday. As for Sunday, “they did get back in again,” he said. “There was nothing for them to take.”

He said he’s been on the phone repeatedly with insurance people and law enforcement and and is trying to maintain perspective.

“We’re blessed overall,” he said. “We still have our safety.”

Sharif Jewelers was hit by vandals Sunday night in Carmichael while police were focused on downtown and midtown Sacramento. DON SWEENEY Moines Register and graduated from Northwestern University.

Source-"https://www.sacbee.com/news/local/crime/article243169721.html"