Daly City store owner pleads not guilty for shooting robber with illegally-owned gun
DALY CITY – A Daly City store owner pleaded not guilty Thursday to charges for shooting and injuring a robber using an illegally owned handgun earlier this week, prosecutors said.
On Tuesday, two robbers took a Rolex watch off the wrist of Rocky David Eid, 50, who owns Sun Valley Dairy Market on Schwerin Street. As they fled, Eid fired at least eight shots at the men outside with a semi-automatic handgun he kept under the counter, according to the San Mateo County District Attorney's Office.
The prosecution is pursuing felony charges of attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon and prohibited possession of a firearm. Eid has two prior felony convictions and is prohibited from possessing a firearm, prosecutors said.
One robber, a 19-year-old San Francisco resident, was shot in the neck and shoulder from 100 feet away. The two robbers got into a car driven by a third person, and the 19-year-old was taken to Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital, where he is recovering from injuries but is expected to survive. The second robber has not been identified.
The two men were wearing ski masks and fanny packs, and the store owner told police he didn't see any weapons on them. When they first came in, one of the men told the owner not to move or "I'll smoke you," prosecutors said.
Despite the prosecution's request for no bail, San Mateo County Superior Court Judge Elizabeth Hill set bail at $750,000, with the condition of a search and seizure to ensure Eid does not possess any deadly weapons.
Eid's defense attorney Ramsey Abboushi told the court the store owner will be able to post the bail amount, prosecutors said.
Evidence in the case includes video surveillance cameras that show the robbery and shooting. The court ordered Eid to have no contact with the man he allegedly shot. A preliminary hearing in the case was set for Aug. 22 at 9 a.m.
Abboushi declined to comment on details of the case until given permission by Eid.
"However, I can say: I am working very hard to learn all of the facts of the case and I look forward to getting to the truth of what occurred," Abboushi wrote.