An Anaheim jewelry store owner last week scared off a group of nearly 20 suspected burglars by firing a warning shot, police said.
About 20 people rushed an Anaheim jewelry store, some of them with sledgehammers and pickaxes. But the owner fought back. https://t.co/3tfV5M7J40
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The owner of Al-Amira Jewelry, 570 S. Brookhurst St., had finished talking with a customer around 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, when five cars pulled into the parking lot and about 18 or 19 people got out and swung pickaxes and hammers at the door, said store manager Ameed Abdel.
Staffers hid in the office and called police while the owner, Abdel’s uncle, fired his pistol, which led the group to run away, Abdel said.
“Honestly, we were impressed with our security,” Abdel said.
The store’s glass is smash- and bulletproof, and the alleged attempted burglars weren’t able to get into the store, he said. One piece of glass needed to be replaced because the bullet the owner shot was lodged in it, but there was no other damage, Abdel said.
Anaheim police are continuing to investigate the case and confirm if there are connections between the attempted burglary and other area jewelry store burglaries, according to Sgt. Matt Sutter. No arrests have been made.
Just down the street from Al-Almira Jewelry, police responded earlier in the month to a smash-and-grab burglary at Besan Jewelry. In that case, suspects crashed a car through the storefront and stole at least $50,000 in inventory, Sutter said.
Police stopped one car that left the scene and arrested two people, but there were at least 12 people involved, Sutter said.
Sutter said jewelry store burglaries seemed to be happening at a higher frequency across the city and that suspected burglars were using smash-and-grab techniques in more cases.