Video shows brazen smash-and-grab at jewelry store inside Montclair mall: 'They're not even scared'
Store personnel said they took off with about $200,000 worth of jewelry.
MONTCLAIR, Calif. (KABC) -- Police are looking for three robbers who were caught on video breaking into a jewelry store in Montclair and getting away with thousands of dollars' worth of merchandise.
It happened at Anthony & Co. Jewelers inside the Montclair Place mall around 6:15 p.m. last Thursday.
Surveillance video obtained by Eyewitness News shows the three robbers rushing into store and smashing several display cabinets.
Store personnel said they took off with about $200,000 worth of jewelry.
"I was in fear, I was like, 'Oh my God. It sounded like a gun,' so I thought it was a gun," said Ed Haro, a sales associate at the store who was there when it all happened. "They just started grabbing things, breaking things out of the cases, breaking more glass."
Griselda Martinez, another sales associate who witnessed the crime, said she tried to defend herself and began throwing things at the robbers while trying to call 911.
"I started grabbing anything I could while I was holding the phone, throwing it at them," said Martinez, who said she threw things like an aerosol can and calculators. "I got some really good head shots. We have display holders, so I was throwing that at them. One of the gentlemen got hit ... he threw it at me and it hit me in the nose."
It's a disturbing trend that doesn't seem to be going away.
Last week, in a similar case, three suspects targeted a jewelry store inside a West Covina mall. Investigators told Eyewitness News three suspects' masks robbed the jewelry store using hammers.
They said they took off and jumped into a waiting vehicle.
READ MORE | 3 suspects target jewelry store at West Covina mall in latest smash-and-grab, police say
Haro said the robbers he encountered didn't seem to care they would be caught on camera. He said none of them were wearing masks.
"They're doing it and doing it, they're not even scared," he said.
Haro said his biggest concern is if they are caught, he fears they won't be in jail for long.
"Even the cops say, 'We have them arrested, we have them in jail a couple weeks, we have to release them,' that's not going to deter anybody," said Haro. "I think somebody like that should be in jail for a couple years at least. You've got to teach them a lesson. If you let them out, it's no hope."
Anyone with information is urged to contact the Montclair Police Department.
