In just over a week, four separate businesses in the Jackson area were hit by thieves in broad daylight.

Disguised as customers, the suspects in each incident escaped with cash, credit cards or high-priced jewelry items.

The string of crimes started Jan. 22 at Red Dragon Karate on Water Street. Owner and instructor Anthony Hanks was having his youngest students do belt-testing, which drew a large crowd of parents to watch.

"There was a lot of confusion that afternoon," Hanks later recalled. "We had so many people in here watching their kids test to get promoted."

According to Hanks, some time between 2:30 and 4 p.m., a young female in her early 20s took advantage of the bustling atmosphere by walking in and sneaking behind the counter to take his cash box. At first, Hanks didn't know how the money had disappeared. It was only after speaking with an observant 9-year-old student that Hanks realized what happened.

"It was a significant, but not huge, amount of money," Hanks said. "I guess we'll have to take a lot more precautions from now on."

Knowing his business had been robbed no later than 4 p.m., Hanks wasn't surprised to learn that around 4:30 that same afternoon, Sue's Shoppe on the other end of Main Street had been hit. Owner Sue Oneto was working behind the counter when it happened.

"A girl in her early 20s asked to look at a clothing item behind the counter," Oneto said. "She managed to get my body turned so I wasn't looking towards the sales floor. At that point, a second girl came in through the back and stole my wallet out of a little room I had it in."

Oneto lost her driver's license, her check book, some cash and four major credit cards. The perpetrators later used her credit cards in Lockeford, as well as Wal-Mart and Starbucks in Elk Grove. They were caught on camera at both Elk Grove businesses.

"I feel violated," Oneto said. "It's such a scary feeling to lose your personal information like that."

On Jan. 26, a similar incident occurred at the Lighthouse Christian Bookstore in Martell. Sandra Simpson was working at the counter while four of her fellow employees, who were working on the store's inventory, took a lunch break in the back. Simpson said that a man and two young women came into the store together. "The man did most of the talking," Simpson recounted. "While I was paying attention to him, one of the girls managed to reach behind the counter and steal my purse and Brighton wallet."

Like Oneto, Simpson said the two women looked to be in their early or mid-20s. According to credit card statements, the thieves used Simpson's card to immediately buy lunch at Burger King in the same Martell parking lot. By 3:25 that afternoon, employees at Bank of America decided to stop Simpson's credit cards due to unusual purchasing patterns in the Modesto area.

"I've been traumatized," Simpson half-joked. "I've been on the phone for three days straight because of this."

She added, "I've worked here at the Christian book store for 15 years and I never thought something like that would happen in it."

On Saturday, two women matching the same description as in the other robberies entered The Celtic Knot on Main Street Jackson in the mid-afternoon. One began asking owner Patti Busch about merchandise while the other stationed herself by a jewelry case.

"It's not unusual for someone who's been shopping all day to sit down and relax by one of the cases," Busch said. "He also had other people in the store at the time."

As Busch helped one of the women, the other managed to open the jewelry case and steal a display of six rings. "Suddenly they hurried out of the place," Busch explained. "That's when we saw the jewelry case on the floor."

Busch believed the robberies have put her and other Main Street merchants in a difficult position. "We try not to give people the evil eye too much, even when we're suspicious," she said. "But I guess you learn lessons. In general, I don't want the customers to feel like they're being watched. But now I don't know what to do. Hopefully, regular customers will understand and forgive that."

The suspects in all the cases are described as one to two Hispanic women in their early to mid-20s. Anyone with information should call the Jackson Police Department at 223-1771 or the Amador County Sheriff's Office at 223-6500.