A brazen jewelry store heist by eight individuals with hammers ended when the store’s 76-year-old owner came out with a gun and chased them away.
The masked men suddenly burst into Phuong Jewelry in Oakland, CA and smashed the glass casings with their hammers. They fled the store with a gun pointed at them with what’s estimated to be 90% of Phuong’s inventory.
ABC7 released video of the robbery that some may find disturbing.
“If he hadn’t done that they would have kept going,” said Tony Trinh speaking about his dad to ABC7 News. “My mom was devastated, and my dad was broken.”
The mother, 69-year-old Diane, cowered behind the counter in fear as the robbers executed their smash and grab. She eventually screamed for help and her husband came running out, reported Daily Mail.
A GoFundMe campaign to help Phuong’s reopen for business raised more than $11,000 by Friday morning, two days after the incident.
“This is truly devastating…is beyond comprehendible. Unfortunately, the family lacked insurance to cushion the blow of their inventory losses and to cover the damages done,” friend Stewert Chen wrote. “Together, let’s rally the community to support and get their business back to operating.”
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