Three masked men armed with hammers stole $500,000 in gems from a California jewelry store and pepper-sprayed the terrified owner in yet another “smash-and-grab” robbery.
Sam Babikian, owner of Jewels on Lake in Pasadena, Calif., told local station KTLA the unidentified men walked in around 1:45 p.m. on Tuesday and ransacked his shop.
“As soon as I opened the door, I got pepper sprayed right in my eye, my throat, my mouth,” he told the TV outlet.
“I couldn’t see anything. Then [all] I could hear was smashing and grabbing.”
The crew smashed through the store’s thick display glass and walked out with almost all the jewelry — worth about $500,000.
Babikian said he was able to eventually hit a hidden “panic button” that summoned police to the shop.
He said during the melee he thought, “I hope nobody pulls a pistol and shoots around.”
The crooks took almost every piece of jewelry from Babikian’s store in just three minutes.
“I feel confused,” Babikian told local TV station NBC4.
“I work so hard for this, all of my life… I’m concerned about my safety. This is going on a lot. Hopefully, I will be the last one. That is my prayer.”
Tuesday’s theft was just another in a long list of “flash mobs” terrorizing shoppers and businesses across Southern California.
Startling video from the Macy’s at the Westfield Fashion Square in Sherman Oaks showed nine thieves — described in their early 20s — ransacking shelves in less than two minutes on Aug. 24.
About two weeks before that, a brazen mob got away with thousands of dollars worth of items at a Nordstrom Rack in Riverside, Calif., which has been hit by robbers once before.
Brazen thieves also ransacked a Nike store in East Los Angeles on Aug. 13 and got away with trash bags full of merchandise.
A day earlier, another flash mob with more than 30 people hit the Nordstroms at the Westfield Topanga Shopping Center and got away with over $300,000 worth of merchandise.
“The suspects ran from the store, ransacking shelves and display tables in the process,” Los Angeles Police Department officials said in a release.
“The suspects were wearing ski masks and fled with high-end handbags, clothing and other easily re-sellable items.”
“One suspect, upon entering the store, sprayed bear spray on the face and body of the security guard at the entrance to the store.”
Earlier this month, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass along with LAPD officials, announced the formation of a task force with 22 full-time investigators focused on the recent wave flash mob robberies.
The task force has made some arrests, including 11 people who were involved in Nordstrom’s Westfield Topanga Shopping Center incident.
“Many of these retail theft cases have adopted linkage to other retail crimes which occurred in neighboring cities,” LAPD officials said.