The robbery took a turn for the worse when the irritated employees of a Los Angeles jewelrystore beat a would-be thief- striking, punching, and kicking him out of the business.
Employees Take Matters Into Their Own Hands
As brazen thieves take advantage of California's loose theft laws, this crime is the latest in a line of terrible thefts and attempted robberies of companies located in the state of California.
At approximately 2:20 p.m. on Saturday, an unidentified suspect entered Meza's Jewelry Store, which is situated in the community of El Monte, which is located east of Los Angeles.
ABC 7 was told by an employee of the store that the customer brought a hammer with him when he entered the establishment.
The man wasted no time in getting to work and immediately began spraying the other staff and workers with bear repellant before moving on to destroying the display cases.
Rather than allowing the man to bash and grab his way through the store, three employees started fighting back and confronted the suspect. An employee told ABC7:
“„Me, my uncle, and my dad were tugging him out. I was trying to defend my family because as you could see he was hitting my dad and my uncle.- ABC7's employee
The suspect is shown on the video being punched, kicked, and even beaten with a large stick only moments before he is being pursued out of the store by the three men who are filming the incident.
However, before the would-be thief can go through the front door, one of the employees grabs hold of the man's top, causing the would-be robber to have to slide out of it in order to escape.
After that, he bolts out of the business, starts running down the street as his pants are falling down, and briefly flashes the person who is recording the video.
Employees are relentless in their pursuit of him and interact with him up until the point where he finally exits the building.
According to the information provided by the police, the suspect is claimed to have fled the area in a gray Dodge Charger.
Users complimented the staff for their bravery in confronting the would-be robber in an online forum.
'People need to start fighting back and things like this will stop,' one YouTube user remarked.
'Time for store owners to protect their business, coworkers, and customers and fight back against these criminals,' said another.
'Well done, employees!' said a third.
This event takes place just a few days after a group of criminals pepper-blasted the owner of a nearby jewelry store in Pasadena. The store was broken into by the same group.
'As soon as they pepper sprayed me, I knew what was happening,' claimed Sam Bibikiam, owner of Jewels on Lake.
'It was going from my mind that 'I hope nobody pulls a pistol and shoots around,' he said. 'But nothing like that happened.
Nobody has been able to identify who was responsible for what happened, nor has anyone been able to find them. Neither of these things has been accomplished.
The band of thieves got off with property worth close to half a million dollars.
They stated that other employees were sent to the hospital for treatment of minor injuries.
As of the afternoon of Sunday, the suspect, who has not been identified in any public statement, has not been located.
The El Monte Police Department was not immediately available for comment and could not be reached.