Hot jewelry hidden in shampoo bottle

AUSTIN (KXAN) - Austin police have identified two more people they said robbed a discoteca last July.

Police had already arrested Luis Abel Jaimes-Garcia, 32, with tips from the public after local media published surveillance photos.

Since then, officers had still been looking for two more people, a teenage boy and a woman.

Police said the trio barged into the Discoteca 2000 store at 5811 Berkman Drive on July 22 and stole a large amount of jewelry at gunpoint.

Police said they identified the teenage boy shortly after Jaimes-Garcia's arrest. The teen's mother reportedly arranged to have him surrender to authorities.

After officers seized the stolen loot from the boy's home, a co-owner of Discoteca 2000 said she got a phone call saying the boy's 39-year-old mother, Judy Ann Rodriguez, was bragging to friends that the cops missed some of the jewelry she had hidden in a shampoo bottle.

The co-owner said Rodriguez had also been seen wearing and flaunting some of the stolen bling.

Officers quickly sprung into action and checked a database that tracks pawn shop activities. They said they found Rodriguez had pawned several items of jewelry at a Cash America store on Airport Boulevard.

When confronted, police said Rodriguez admitted she had pawned some of the stolen items.

Police then served a search warrant at her home and said when they started searching her house, Rodriguez showed up wearing some of the stolen jewelry.

Police have issued an arrest warrant for the part they said Rodriguez played in the theft. The theft victim said the total value of all the stolen jewelry recovered is $7,608.

Meanwhile, Austin police are investigating another discoteca robbery as they still search for the man they said robbed the Discoteca Jaime at 6602 S. Congree Ave.

They said the unidentified man walked in with a weapon and demanded money on Nov. 19.

Investigators released a surveillance photo of the man and said he is either white or Hispanic, about 5 feet 10 inches tall and weighing 150 pounds. The victim said he spoke broken Spanish.

If you know who this man is, you’re asked to call Austin police at (512) 974-5092.