Santa Rosa police offer reward in armed coin heist

Police hope a $2,500 reward will help garner tips leading to the arrest of two men who attempted to hold up a west Santa Rosa coin store on Saturday morning, the third robbery reported at the business in a little over two weeks.

No arrests have been made in the foiled heist at Big Oak Plaza Coins, Santa Rosa police Lt. John Cregan said Monday.

Detectives believe two men tried to make off with valuable coins from the West Third Street shop during the robbery, which was reported to police at around 9:15 a.m. Saturday.

Two employees confronted the men, forcing them to leave empty-handed. One clerk ripped a tray of coins out of the hands of a suspect, who fired at least one shot at the employee but missed, Cregan said.

The men fled in a car parked nearby.

The store’s owner, Jack Beymer, said the pair tried to make off with about 50 gold coins before they were stopped. The valuable coins included American Gold Eagles, Canadian Gold Maple Leafs and South African Krugerrands, each valued at almost $1,300, Beymer said.

“The second guy shot at my manager, fortunately missing,” Beymer said. “Nobody was injured. Some coins got bruised and that’s it.”

Police initially reported three suspects were involved in the robbery, based on conflicting information from witnesses.

However, detectives with the department’s violent crime and gang crime units later determined there were only two suspects.

The robbery is the third reported to police at the coin store in the past few weeks, Cregan said.

In the two prior incidents, suspects began by engaging with clerks and then waited until they were distracted before taking items from the store. A weapon was not used in either of those robberies, he added. The first robbery occurred June 28 and involved the theft of foreign coins, Beymer said. In the second robbery, on July 5, a suspect fled with about $5,000 in gold nuggets, he said.

“We’re still investigating to see if those suspects have any connection to this incident,” Cregan said.

Since Saturday’s robbery, Beymer has ordered security cameras that capture images at a higher resolution than the ones currently at his store, he said. He also planned to move some of the items taken in the most recent heist to a different location. The coin shop was previously located at Coddingtown Mall, where Beymer opened his business in 1971, he said.

The reward for tips about the robbery comes from the “Take Back Our Community Fund,” overseen by the business association Sonoma County Alliance. Cregan said the money would awarded to anyone with information leading to the arrest and conviction of either suspect.

You can reach Staff Writer Nashelly Chavez at 707-521-5203 or nashelly.chavez@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @nashellytweets.