Hilton House Consign & Design, home to Orinda for the last 25 years, was robbed on Saturday, March 1, just before noon. Two customers and one employee were pepper-sprayed, while five suspects made off with yellow gold jewelry worth thousands.
Employees and customers at the Hilton House Consign & Design were victims of a smash-and-grab just before noon on March 1, as robbers made off with about $100,000 worth of yellow gold jewelry and caused $20,000 in damage.
The owner, who does not want her name used, said she was on her way to the store at the time.
“Five people came bombing into the store,” she said. “One of them was at the door and he sprayed pepper spray. The robbers were in for 30 seconds.”
Two customers and one employee were pepper-sprayed and treated on the scene. No one was sent to the hospital.
Several in-store cameras captured the thieves walking into the store, wearing dark clothes, hoodies, masks and gloves and smashing glass display fixtures with a hammer, while one employee pressed a panic button to alert Orinda police.
Neither the Orinda Police Department’s or the Contra Costa Sheriff’s Department would comment on the incident.
A GoFundMe campaign was created to help recoup the store’s losses (bit.ly/43up89t), and while the owner said their insurance will help cover some of their losses, it won’t cover all of them. The GoFundMe contributions will help the company restore its inventory and enhance security measures.
The company set a goal to raise $50,000, and at the time of publication, they had raised $2,829.
“I’d like to say to the community ‘thank you for your love and support over the last 25 years,’” she said. “Nothing has ever happened to us like this. Thank you for everyone coming in and bringing us candy, gifts, flowers and most of all – supporting us in sales, so that we can keep the store going because customers do not want us to close.”
The owner was also thankful her family was visiting from out of town at that time.
“They just happened to be here and they were a big help to us cleaning up after the big mess they [the suspects] made,” she said.
Anyone with any information on this incident is asked to contact the Orinda Police Department at 925.254.6820. Tips can be emailed to orindatip@cityoforinda.org.
Editorial note: Despite a significant drop in crime in 2024, these kinds of incidents will always occur.
Several people at store, but still leaving out valuable description of the robbers. So PC of the Orinda news not to share important information. Why end the article asking for help when you can provide key facts!
The Orinda News was given the description of the suspects as “wearing dark clothes, hoodies, masks and gloves” however, other key facts and suspect descriptions were not given to The Orinda News by the store employees or the Orinda Police Department. The Orinda News always asks all the important questions, but when answers are not given and a police report is not released, then, unfortunately, the news team’s hands are tied and information is limited.