Southwest Side Chicago jewelry store owner devastated after terrifying armed robbery
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A store owner on the city's Southwest Side is now afraid for her safety and her business, after a scary robbery that was all caught on camera.
As CBS 2's Marybel González reported Monday night, It was last Thursday when the four armed and masked men stormed into the Joyería Molina jewelry store, at 2621 W. 51st St. in Gage Park. Owner Maria Coronel said it was as if the robbers waited for just the right moment.
The robbers broke glass displays and got away with thousands of dollars in merchandise.
Another angle of the surveillance video showed how the thieves got into what is normally a locked door. As a customer exited, one of the thieves rushed to the door before it closed – letting the others in.
A fourth person is also seen on video coming out of a white car before also entering the store.
Coronel was working that day. The video shows one of the robbers pointing the gun in her direction.
She told us in Spanish that she heard one of them telling her to get on the floor. She ran out of the store instead.
Coronel said she hadn't cried about the incident until we talked with her Monday. She told us how grateful she was that her children weren't in the store during the moments of terror – and that she got away uninjured.
The shock of the incident is now setting in for the new business owner, who had opened her store only about a year and a half ago.
Coronel said she is unsure if she will remain open – especially since Chicago Police have yet to announce any arrests in the incident.
Chicago Police said they are investigating. For now, Coronel is left to pick up the broken glass and try to rebuild.
"Bastante tiempo que nos ha tomado, y solo un minuto para destruir," she said. The translation is, "It took us so long to open, and only minutes to get destroyed."