Thieving mob scatters at O.C. jewelry store owner’s warning shot

An Anaheim jewelry shop owner sent more than a dozen would-be thieves scrambling when he fired off a warning shot as they were attempting to break into his store, surveillance footage shows.  

The July 17 incident occurred just before 6:30 p.m. at Al-Amira Jewelry, located at 570 South Brookhurst Street, according to the Anaheim Police Department.  

In footage of the incident, a caravan of at least a half-dozen vehicles carrying the masked and hooded suspects pulls into the strip mall parking lot and rushes to the entrance of Al-Amira Jewelry armed with a pickaxe and a sledgehammer and many of them carrying bags, presumably to throw the stolen merchandise into.  

Several employees in the store, including the owner, ran toward the back of the shop as the mob began pounding the heavy tools against the glass front door and windows.  

“When I looked out the window, I saw five cars with many people. I can’t count them,” Al-Amira’s owner, who did not want to be identified, told KTLA. “In this moment, I think just one thing, to defend myself, my employee, my store and family business.”  

Surveillance footage captured the owner of the store raising a handgun from behind the counter at the rear of the shop and firing one round at the bullet-proof window, which sent the crowd of would-be robbers running for their cars and fleeing the area.  

“He was acting in self-defense,” Mohammad Abuershaid, the owner’s attorney, told KTLA. “He reasonably believed that they were trying to come in to harm himself or his family, his business. So, he fired a warning shot to make sure that nobody got in.”  

The same crew of thieves is reportedly linked to a successful smash-and-grab at Besan Jewelry, located almost directly across the street at 500 South Brookhurst Street, a little more than a week earlier.  

In that instance, the robbery crew used a car to smash through the glass front of the establishment and raided the shop’s display cases by smashing them with hammers and mallets.  

It’s unclear just how much they got away with, but at least two of the suspects were captured near Harbor Boulevard and Manchester Avenue a short time later.  

“This seems to be a trend lately, to show up with more than a dozen people, overwhelming the employees and steal thousands and thousands of dollars in merchandise,” APD Sgt. Matt Sutter told KTLA. “It’s not only here in Anaheim but all over Southern California.” 

Anyone with information about these investigations is encouraged to contact the Anaheim Police Department Robbery Division.