RIVERSIDE, Calif. - February 19, 2024 – Two robbers got away with thousands of dollars in jewelry in a brazen smash-and-grab even as the Riverside store’s owner chased them off with gunfire.
The incident was captured on surveillance video Saturday morning..
The two masked subjects are seen casually walking into the jewelry store, apparently getting in through a locked door that didn’t fully close after the last person entered. They immediately start smashing glass display cabinets with hammers.
One shocked customer tries to escape through the front door but can’t get it open, then she scrambles past the subjects to exit out the back door.
Moments later the store’s owner opens fire at the subjects, attempting to scare them off but not directly strike them. One shot struck the ground and another smashed the store’s window as the startled subject falls to the ground on his way out.
“He shot once at the ground. Immediately as he shot at the ground, they ran,” said Michelangelo Torchia, the owner’s son. “One of the guys, you’ll see in the surveillance video, he fell to the floor, scared. grabbed his hammer because he dropped his hammer and one of our bracelets he was stealing.”
The owners, in business since 1989, say they are shaken by the robbery but grateful no one was hurt.
Riverside police are actively working leads in the case and are attempting to identify the robbers. A spokesperson for the department said it does not appear the store owner acted criminally when firing at the robbers.
Click here to learn more and read the source of this posting written by Leanne Suter and Rob McMillan
If you have any information regarding these subjects, please contact the Jewelers’ Security Alliance at jsa2@jewelerssecurity.org or 212-687-0328.