Thieves nabbed jewelry from 3 SLO County stores last month. Was it connected?
At least three San Luis Obispo County businesses were hit by jewelry thieves in the past month, and authorities say the burglaries were potentially connected.
On May 15, security camera footage showed two masked and gloved individuals wearing sweatshirts and sweatpants coming through a broken window in the front door of McLean Jewelry at 9:57 p.m., owner Tim McLean said. The thieves shattered a glass pane in the front door to enter the business.
A tenant at the back of the building saw broken glass at about 5 a.m. the next day.
The thieves stole $3,000 to $5,000 of miscellaneous jewelry, including jewelry parts, “loose gemstones” in Ziploc bags, “loose pearls” and raw silver and gold metal in wire form, McClean said.
“I’m still trying to figure out what’s missing,” he said.
Since he opened the business in 1977, his store has been burglarized only one other time — in 1990, when $100,000 of materials were stolen, he said.
Roughly two weeks later, a thief on Wednesday smashed a window at Artifacts Gallery in Cambria and stole $15,000 worth of art jewelry, Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Tony Cipolla previously told the Tribune.
Finally, on Sunday at 3:45 a.m., officers responded to a burglary alarm at By the Bay Gallery on the Embarcadero, Morro Bay Police Department officer Tony Mosqueda said.
When officers arrived at the store, the front window was broken. They called the owner to the scene, who informed them that jewelry was missing from the store’s display cases, he said.
Meanwhile, at about 4 a.m., San Luis Obispo Sheriff’s Office deputies stopped a car for a vehicle violation in Morro Bay, he said.
While talking to the driver, the deputies saw narcotics and drug paraphernalia on a seat in the vehicle. They detained the driver, searched the car and found “a large quantity of jewelry inside,” Mosqueda said.
The vehicle also contained a window punch, a pry bar, gloves and a ski mask.
“All of that’s pretty consistent with somebody on the prowl to commit a burglary,” he said.
The deputies called Morro Bay Police Department officers to the scene, who confirmed some of the jewelry belonged to By the Bay Gallery, Mosqueda said.
Police officers then arrested the driver, identified as 27-year-old Ryan Coats. Coats is believed to have potentially been involved in the other two burglaries as well, Cipolla told The Tribune on Tuesday.
Luckily, By the Bay Gallery co-owner Kathy Brown said police recovered all the stolen merchandise from her shop, for which they were “very grateful.”
Since opening in 1988, this is the first time the business has been burglarized, she added.
“We’re on high alert and a little anxious after the previous burglary,” she said.
This story was originally published June 2, 2026 at 1:09 PM.
