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This is the moment an elderly worker scared off a gang of robbers at gunpoint after they tried to loot his Bay Area store Monday.
Albert Marcu faced a group of would-be robbers with sledgehammers after storming the Estates Consignment Store in Pleasant Hill.
Surveillance video shows an apparent coordinated attempt to rob the store as a woman on the phone held the store door open, allowing a group of men to run inside.
The footage shows two masked men standing at the door threatening and restraining the security guard, while three others move to the jewelry counters at the back of the store.
However, they were met by the heroic employee who, pointing a gun, refused to back down, forcing the men back out the door and into a car before driving away.
The group of would-be robbers entered the Estates Consignment Store in Pleasant Hill with sledgehammers
The older employee looked at the robbers with a gun from behind the jewelry counter
'I had to take a stand. Too much has happened around us and nothing is being done,” says Marcu, who has been in the store since 2007, told Chron 4.
“I feel very sorry for this country, which is one of the best countries in the world.”
Marcu told the station that he came to the US after escaping from communist Romania and that he is disappointed by politicians' inability to tackle the rise in crime.
“We are pleading with politicians to help us, small businesses and communities across California. Things are getting out of hand,” Marcu explained.
“I'd say about 99 percent of my clients complain about crime.”
Pleasant Hill's November property crime rate is up increased by 13.5 percent since the same time last year.
Senior worker Albert Marcu said he is saddened by the rise in crime in California
Marcu said he is grateful to Pleasant Hill police, who responded within 30 seconds, and he hopes the responsibility will restore law and order.
No arrests have been made and police have asked anyone with information about the incident to call Pleasant Hill PD.
Nearby San Francisco continues to struggle with rising crime and a homelessness epidemic.
According to crime data recorded between January and September 2023, robberies are up 15.9 percent compared to the same time last year.
Meanwhile, car thefts rose 10.8 percent as viral videos of violent theft circulated online.
According to a recent McKinsey survey, 70 percent of San Francisco residents list homelessness as one of the city's top three problems.