SAN JOSE — A longtime Santa Clara police officer has been ordered off the job after he was accused of using sophisticated burglary tools to shoplift a smart watch from a Target store in San Jose, authorities said.

Kiet Nguyen, whose 25th anniversary with the force would be in October, is on paid administrative leave after he was cited in two misdemeanors, shoplifting and possessing burglary tools, stemming from a Saturday visit to the Target at the Westgate Center shopping mall on Saratoga Avenue.

“We’re sad to hear this happened involving one of our employees,” said Lt. Kurt Clarke, a Santa Clara police spokesman. “We’ll await the outcome of the investigation and an administrative review.”

Attempts to reach Nguyen for comment were not successful Thursday.

According to San Jose police, around 3:40 p.m. Saturday, Nguyen was seen by Target loss-prevention officers taking an unspecified smart watch, valued at about $250, off a shelf and removing a locking device used to secure high-ticket items.

“He somehow disabled the locking device with some sort of magnetic key, then concealed the item on his person,” SJPD spokesman Sgt. Enrique Garcia said.

Garcia said Nguyen eventually went to a register to pay for some items, but not for the watch. After he walked out of the store, he was stopped and detained by the loss-prevention officers, who then called police.

Two SJPD officers responded to the call and during a field investigation discovered Nguyen had a magnetic key and a set of small wire cutters, which they considered burglary tools. They cited Nguyen for the two misdemeanors and released him at the scene.

Garcia said Nguyen was cooperative with police and at some point identified himself as a Santa Clara officer.

Whether the 48-year-old Nguyen is charged has not been decided; the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office said Thursday it had not received the case from police.

Nguyen held the rank of officer when he was cited. According to city documents, he held the rank of detective sergeant at least as recently as 2012. The reason for the change of rank is not subject to public record, and Clarke said he is prohibited from releasing any personnel information on department employees.

There is also no immediate indication that a conviction would affect Nguyen’s pension benefits. State pension reform that took effect in 2013 does have a provision that subjects public employees to some pension forfeiture if convicted of a felony relating to official duties but does not cover off-duty misdemeanors.

Contact Robert Salonga at 408-920-5002. Follow him at Twitter.com/robertsalonga.