W.V. jewelry store rammed by pickup truck

A West Valley jewelry store suffered extensive damage early Thursday when a pickup truck drove all the way into the store.

Police are trying to determine if the incident was an attempted burglary or if it has any ties to a fatal police shooting last month.

About 2:30 a.m., a white truck backed into Pailin Jewelry, 3538 S. Redwood Road.

"It backed completely into the business. Through the glass, the front counter, clear back into the office area," said West Valley Police Capt. Tom McLachlan.

The incident was caught by surveillance video from a 7-Eleven across the street, he said. For the truck to position itself in front of the store like that and back into it, McLachlan said there's no way it was an accident.

"It would have had to been on purpose," he said.

Nothing in the store, however, was taken. McLachlan said that could have been due to the fact all the jewelry and other valuables were kept in a safe at night and not in the display cases. However, he also noted the truck drove away right after it backed in, and the driver apparently did not try to get out.

"Everything right now points to an attempted burglary," McLachlan said.

However, he said detectives would look at all possible motives and connections, including an incident at the same store in July.

On July 1, a man entered the jewelry store, robbed the business and then took the owner's wife hostage. As he walked outside with the woman to waiting police officers, she was able to break free and run. Investigators said that's when 36-year-old Thanh M. Tran fired a shot at officers who returned fire, killing him.

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