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Surveillance footage captured horrific footage of a California jewelry store owner being attacked during a robbery.
Margarita Pereda, owner of Gemma’s Jewelers in Rancho Cucamonga, was hospitalized for several days after being beaten with a gun by a thief on Oct. 15.
“He was ready to kill me,” Pereda said.
Two gunmen, dressed as Amazon delivery man and security guard, entered the store around 2:40 p.m. A mugger immediately approached and confronted Pereda, who triggered the store’s alarm before hitting her on the back of the head.
‘He said, ‘Damn no!’ and he came right in with the gun very close to my face, and I defended myself,” Pereda said.
“It’s a miracle, he was ready to kill me.”
Margarita Pereda, owner of Gemma’s Jewelers in Rancho Cucamonga, California, was beaten with a gun during a robbery on Oct. 15.
Pereda was approached by two thieves who entered the store dressed as Amazon employee and security guard
A thief attacked Pereda, who was trying to defend herself when she activated the store’s alarm
Pereda was hit on the head by the man dressed as a guard. She was hospitalized for several days after sustaining an open wound to the back of her head
When the attack followed, another thief dressed as an Amazon delivery man stole jewelry worth thousands of dollars
Pereda was hospitalized after sustaining an open wound to the back of her head.
“I was bleeding a lot,” she said. “I thought I wouldn’t make it because there was blood everywhere.”
The thieves left injured Pereda on the floor with jewelry worth thousands of dollars, she said KTLA.
“People don’t respect other people anymore,” said Fabian Rodriguez, a jeweler at the store.
Despite the attack, Pereda said she was not affected enough to close the doors of her store for a few days.
“I won’t be afraid to close my doors,” she said. ‘No no no no no.’
“He was ready to kill me,” Pereda said of the attack that left her in the hospital for several days
Despite the attack, Pereda said she was not affected enough to close the doors of her store
Employees at a nearby Target told FOX LA that they were terrified when the “obviously planned” robbery took place.
“I was just at work pulling some carts and I saw a bunch of police officers and the lady looked injured,” Leonardo Franco said.
‘You do feel a bit unsafe when you know that such things happen. Even in the video it’s scary to see them disguised. One of the suspects is in Amazon (jacket), and another looked like security. They clearly planned this out.’
“Seeing the video broke my heart,” said Mia Spera.
“Honestly, when he got physical with her, that was really sad, because you can threaten someone and not even touch them, but the fact that he actually started hitting her, it was like, ‘Oh my god, that’s really sad.’
Local police are currently looking for the two thieves.
Anyone with information about the robbery is asked to contact Candace Sanchez of Rancho Cucamonga Station. Anonymous tips can be submitted to the WE-Tip Hotline at 1-800-78-CRIME, or online at wetip.com.