Masked robbers clad in dark clothing quickly took over a California jewelry store last week, as surveillance video shows them fanning out and smashing display cases in a brazen heist.
This is, until the owner of the store came into the camera frame with his gun and opened fire.
‘It’s shocking to the conscience. It’s scary to the family because it is a mom-and-pop store with family being your own employees, it’s your own business and your livelihood.’
The imposing crew suddenly looked quite overmatched as they stumbled and sprinted out the store.
The incident at Olivia’s Fine Jewelry in Madera took place around 7 p.m. Thursday, KFSN-TV reported. Madera is about a half hour northwest of Fresno.
Four of the crooks took part in the smash-and-grab while one stayed by the door as a lookout, KFSN said. Video shows the lookout holding the door open for the rest of the crew as they ran out of the store to get clear of the gunfire.
After the robbers ran into the parking lot, video shows the owner on the sidewalk in front of the store still shooting at the fleeing crooks.
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“It’s shocking to the conscience. It’s scary to the family because it is a mom-and-pop store with family being your own employees, it’s your own business and your livelihood,” Madera Police Sgt. Blake Short told KFSN.
The robbers took with them an estimated $170,000 in jewelry, the station said, and authorities added that no one was hit by gunfire.
“I believe the store owner did what he felt was necessary at the time. We don’t always recommend that in this field. Fortunately, no one was harmed in this situation,” Short added to KFSN.
The station said authorities were able to recover the getaway car, described as a dark gray Audi, and that the suspects ditched it just outside of the Madera city limits.
Police also called the robbery sophisticated, KFSN said, adding that the suspects had a clear plan.
Short noted to the station that a “preliminary investigation shows that they were kind of in the area for a little while … we would say in our field ‘casing the business.’ This was definitely meticulous. It was thought out. It did not appear to be a first time for these individuals.”
Veronica Casillas, an employee of a nearby store, told KFSN that “it was very scary. We heard just a loud noise, and I told the manager ‘I think those gunshots.'”
The investigation is ongoing, the station said, and no additional descriptions of the suspects have been released.
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