Woman pleads for return of engagement ring after theft caught on camera in San Leandro

SAN LEANDRO, Calif. (KGO) -- At just 18 and 19 years old, Yessenia Trujillo and her fiancé Mateo Rincon are the epitome of young love. Rincon saved up for months. Then on their anniversary, proposed at a Bay Area beach in June of this year.

"When it was finally time I couldn't stop smiling the whole day" he said while smiling, recalling the joy in his beloved's face.

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But the smiles quickly turned to tears on Sunday when Trujillo had her ring stolen while on the job at a Jack in the Box in San Leandro.

"It happened so fast, I didn't expect it," she said with tears in her eyes. "I just walked away and came back and it wasn't there anymore."

Because of the ongoing police investigation, ABC7 News has chosen not to show the surveillance video of what happened, but we did obtain surveillance photos. In the video, Trujillo is seen putting a small bag on a chair inside the restaurant. She's not allowed to wear jewelry on her hands while cooking so she kept the rose gold engagement ring and a small ring her mother gave her for her Quinceanera inside the bag.

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Minutes later, after she walks away to grab something in the kitchen, a woman walks over to the chair, drapes her jacket over the bag, takes a few steps away and comes back to the chair, picks up the jacket and the bag and walks out of the store.

Trujillo was furious after seeing the video.

"I was mad and I was scared and I wanted to ask to go outside and find her but I was at work and couldn't leave work," she said.

As Rincon continues to pay off the ring, San Leandro police say the video clearly shows their suspect, who appears to have done this before.

Rincon has this message for whoever took the ring: "If you could please bring it back. It's all we really care about. It's a symbol of our love."

Trujillo says she has learned one thing from all of this: she'll never leave her belongings unattended again.

If you recognize this woman and can help with the investigation, please call San Leandro police.