Blaze News original: Store workers use their guts, fists, and wits to battle crooks tooth and nail — Part 2

Female Family Dollar clerk fights male who pushes through plexiglass barrier, stabs at her, tries to grab cash from register

A female clerk at a North Carolina Family Dollar fought off a male customer who pushed through a plexiglass barrier, stabbed at her, and tried to grab money from the cash register — and the scary encounter was caught on surveillance video.

The customer at the Sharpsburg store paid for a cigarette lighter with cash about 12:09 p.m. on July 14, 2022, the Rocky Mount Telegram reported. Sharpsburg is about an hour east of Raleigh. When the clerk opened the cash register, surveillance video shows the male push through a plexiglass barrier and stab at the clerk, WRAL-TV reported. The Telegram said he was holding a knife.

The clerk quickly responds by beating back the male with her hands, the station said, adding that police said the male was trying to steal cash from the register. Video shows the male running out of the store after the struggle; the clerk appears to throw something at the male as takes off.

The clerk called 911 and said the suspect was headed north on U.S. 301 toward Rocky Mount, the Telegram said. Rocky Mount is about 10 minutes north of Sharpsburg. The clerk suffered a cut on her hand during the struggle, the Telegram said. Video shows the clerk holding her left hand and signaling for help, WRAL said.

Sharpsburg police quickly caught the suspect, the Telegram said. WRAL said he was arrested the same day the incident took place.

Mohammud Alsaleh, 34, was charged with attempted armed robbery and assault with a deadly weapon inflicting serious bodily injury, the Telegram said, adding that he was jailed under a $250,000 bond in the Nash County Detention Center.

'He shot my arm off! He shot my arm off!' 80-year-old liquor store owner lets his shotgun do the talking when hooded crook armed with rifle walks in

After four male suspects wearing facial coverings and hoods pulled up to the Norco Market & Liquor store in California at 2:45 a.m. July 31, 2022, one of them entered the establishment brandishing a rifle. But that didn't scare 80-year-old store owner Craig Cope.

He saw what was happening outside his store on surveillance cameras, KCAL-TV reported, after which Cope armed himself. Surveillance video of the exchange inside the store shows Cope offering a brief warning to the rifle-wielding crook, who does not relent, after which Cope opens fire and finds his target.

The wounded suspect flees back to the vehicle, screaming, "He shot my arm off! He shot my arm off!" You can view a video report about the incident here.

Despite suffering a heart attack after the incident and requiring three stents, Cope returned to work just days later. He told KCAL in a follow-up story that the would-be robber he shot is "in the hospital, in critical condition. So, it must have been a pretty good shot."

Regarding the foiled robbery, Cope told one reporter, "I took care of it, and that was that." Cope's wife, who told KCAL she didn't want to be identified, issued a warning to prospective criminals in the area: "Stay out of Norco, because everybody in Norco has a gun." Norco is just shy of an hour southeast of Los Angeles and about 20 minutes southwest of Riverside.

KABC-TV reported that Cope suffered a stroke in October 2022, and his store's Facebook page announced that he died on the morning of Dec. 27, 2022.

Three of the four male suspects from the incident pleaded guilty Sept. 20, 2023, to six felony charges and were immediately sentenced, the Mercury News reported. Davon Anthony Broadus, 24, Justin Kyle Johnson, 22, and Jamar Elijah Williams, 26, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit robbery, attempted robbery, carrying a loaded stolen firearm, possession of an assault weapon, and two counts of receiving stolen property, the Mercury News said, adding that charges of assault with an assault weapon and cruelty to an elder were dropped. Riverside County Superior Court Judge Gary Polk sentenced them to five years in custody, the paper said.

The trio drove Rasheed DaShawn Lee Belvin, 23 — the suspect Cope shot — to a hospital, where all of them were arrested, the News said. Neither of Belvin’s arms were shot off, the paper noted. Belvin’s attorney made a motion to have his case diverted to Mental Health Court, where charges could have been dropped after treatment, but the judge denied the motion, the Mercury News reported. Belvin pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit robbery, attempted robbery, assault with a machine gun or assault weapon, cruelty to an elder, carrying a loaded stolen firearm, illegal possession of an assault weapon, and two counts of receiving stolen property, the Press-Enterprise reported, adding that Polk on Oct. 31, 2023, sentenced Belvin to 10 years in prison.

San Francisco store owners fight back against teenage smash-and-grab robbers who use hammers as weapons. The crooks lose.

Owners of a San Francisco camera store fought back against a trio of teenage smash-and-grab robbers, and even though the crooks used hammers in the fight, they all ran off apparently without any merchandise.

The teens walked into the Chinatown store around 3:20 p.m. on March 21, 2022, and asked about the price of a camera, KPIX-TV reported, adding that they stayed in the store for about three minutes and then departed. The station said they returned about 30 minutes later — but they weren't interested in a transaction.

“All of a sudden, they pulled out a hammer, and they started trying to smash the glass,” shop co-owner Sergio told KPIX. Problem was, the cases behind the counter are plexiglass and wouldn’t break, the station said, adding that one glass countertop case did shatter.

Surveillance video shows one of the store owners grabbing what appears to be a bat or a rod, and he approaches the crooks, two of whom swing hammers at Sergio and the other co-owner.

“One of the guys up there is trying to hit my partner with a hammer,” Sergio told the station. “I run, and I try to grab a bat that I have. Try to protect myself and my business here.”

KPIX said a neighboring business owner ran over to help and was hit in the head with a hammer, after which he needed 10 stitches.

“One of the guys, they put the pepper spray in my eyes,” Sergio added to the station. “The other guy is trying to hit me with a hammer, and I’m trying to protect myself.”

After about a minute, the attempted robbery and hammer attack were over, KPIX said. Video shows the trio running out of the trashed store, apparently without any merchandise.

The station said the store co-owners have been in the camera business for 27 years, but now, they're nervous about coming in to work. "We don’t know them – but they know us because we work over here seven days a week," Ariel, the other co-owner, told KPIX.

Sergio added to the station, "After this, I’m worried, and I’m scared — because God forbid if they come back. Hopefully they [are] not gonna come back. But if they come back with a gun, what happens?”

You can view video of the altercation here. You can also watch a video report about the crime and the aftermath here.

Smoke shop owner fights back, stabs would-be thief: 'I was in a fight or flight mode'

Johnny Nguyen, owner of the Smokestrom Smoke Shop in Las Vegas, was in his store in the middle of the day Aug. 3, 2022, when two individuals wearing ski masks walked in. Surveillance video shows Nguyen asking them, "Why are you guys wearing masks like that?" Nguyen then said, "Can you guys just leave?"

One of the individuals takes a tip jar, and Nguyen says they can take the jar but asks them to leave the coins. Suddenly, one of them jumps over the counter. Nguyen responded by stabbing the would-be thief seven times with a knife while the other individual ran out of the smoke shop.

As he's being stabbed, the would-be thief yells, "I'm dead! I'm dead!" then falls to the floor. Nguyen dragged the crook near the front door; the store owner also called police.

Nguyen told KVVU-TV, "I was in a fight or flight mode… a lot of adrenaline going through my body." He also told the station he plans to purchase a gun for the store in the event his store is robbed again.

Las Vegas Metropolitan Police said officers arrested two juveniles involved in the attempted robbery. The stabbed would-be robber was taken to a hospital; authorities didn't reveal the suspect's condition. No charges were immediately filed against Nguyen.

Masked thug points gun at female clerk in smoke shop, demands cash and vapes. But she's not about to let him waltz away without a fight.

Dejea Steiner was working behind the counter at the Magic Wizard Smoke Shop in Euclid, Ohio, last summer when a masked individual pointed a gun at her and demanded cash and vapes, WJW-TV reported.

Steiner grabbed a display case to retrieve the items, but she had no intention of complying. “I wanted to get out of that situation, so I did whatever I could,” the 27-year-old told the station.

For starters, Steiner rammed the display case into the robber's face, WJW said, adding that after she and the robber ended up on the floor fighting, Steiner grabbed a sword she remembered was near the cash register and started swinging it. The station said the suspect fired his gun and yelled several times for Steiner to “get back!”

“After the gunshot, I just ran out the door,” Steiner told WJW, adding that she hollered for help. The suspect grabbed several items as well as cash and took off, the station said.

Euclid Police Chief Scott Meyer told WJW the suspect is very dangerous — and that Steiner is fortunate to have gotten away from him: “The clerk is just very lucky she wasn’t injured or killed during the incident. I am so glad she is OK.”

The June 27, 2023, incident was captured on surveillance video. “There was quite a bit of a struggle," Euclid Police Capt. Mitch Houser noted to the station. "You can see she grabs that vape case and smashes it over his head, and then as as they fall to the ground she grabs a sword and takes a couple swings at him and hits him — but the sheath was still on, so it didn’t do any damage.”

Steiner told WJW she's all done with violent criminals, saying they've "kind of made people fed up, you know? I come to work every day. The people that own the store, they are struggling, too — and then to see people go out here and do this type of thing and harming people, you know, it's not OK.”

Steiner added to the station that she hopes to become a graphic designer — and she also holds out some hope for the armed crook who took what wasn't his.

“I understand life is hard," she explained to WJW. "It's hard for me. I've been through so much stuff. I'm even considered homeless right now, and I still get up and work. You need to work. We need to all try and help the economy. If you get a second chance at life, please do the right thing.”

Target security guard punches unhinged female in face who reportedly chased him into office after demanding 'reparations' amid $1K grocery bill: 'This is my Rosa Parks moment'

The incident took place in October 2022 in Blue Ash, Ohio, after Karen Ivery asked the Target cashier for the manager regarding her bill of more than $1,000 in groceries and "reparations," the New York Post said, citing a police report.

When speaking with the manager, Ivery first asked for reparations and then grew angry as she walked “aggressively” toward the manager, the Post said, citing the report. “Ivery kept berating her about reparations and her privileged life,” the report said, according to the Post, as the customer continued walking toward the manager.

With that, Zach Cotter — a loss-prevention officer — intervened and asked Ivery to calm down and leave the store, the paper noted, citing the report. But Ivery allegedly began screaming at Cotter and followed him to his office, the Post reported.

When he tried to shut the door, Ivery allegedly forced her way into the office — and Cotter threw a punch, the Post added, citing the report. Ivery fell to the floor after the wallop. You can view video of the punch here.

Later, a rather jaw-dropping scene took place in the office as one of the cops called to the scene tells Ivery that video shows her backing the security guard — who feared for his safety — into an office. She replied that "when people are backed into a corner, they can choose to do the right thing, or they can choose to lash out."

Ivery also claimed she "held the line" and then "moved my line continuously" before accusing store employees of "gatekeeping me." Soon, she was holding aloft her left fist and hollering, "If the laws are meant to hold people down, you will fight for me, my community! You will come for me!"

She added, "People that look like you are done trying to gatekeep people that look like me." Video also shows Ivery telling a police officer, "This is my Rosa Parks moment, dude. Don't play with me."

Authorities determined that Ivery was the “aggressor,” after which she was placed under arrest, the Post said. “Ivery was confrontational with officers on the scene and didn’t want to explain her actions,” the report added, according to the paper.

Ivery was sentenced to a day in jail and charged $110 for disorderly conduct, the Post said, citing the Daily Mail. The Post said a Target spokesperson declined to comment about the incident.

'They're just sick of it': 6 smash-and-grab crooks hit jewelry center, but tenants — some of whom 'feed three families' — fight back to defend their livelihoods

Six black-clad crooks attempted a smash-and-grab robbery at a downtown Los Angeles jewelry center on Sept. 6, 2022, but the tenants — some of whom "feed three families" — weren't having it and fought back against the robbers to defend their livelihoods, KCBS-TV reported. Surveillance video caught the mayhem during the attempted robbery at St. Vincent Jewelry Center; the station said tenants used display cases as barriers and threw objects at the would-be robbers. You can view a video report about the incident here.

"The majority of our tenants have the kind of glass that you can't break, so [the robbers] were not successful," Nejdeh Avedian, general manager of the center, told KCBS. A security guard detained one of the suspects in a nearby parking lot, after which police took the suspect into custody, the station said.

Avedian told KCBS the majority of his tenants are from other countries and put their entire livelihoods on the line for the jewelry they're selling — which Avedian said explains why they fought back. "You know what?" he added to the station. "I think they're just sick of it."

Avedian explained to KCBS that "some of these tenants, they feed three families, so the grandfather, the father, and now the son — so they're not going to just sit there and let people take all this jewelry without doing anything about it."

The jewelry district was established in 1972, but Avedian told the station smash-and-grab robberies have been surging in the jewelry district in the last two years — presumably because consequences for getting caught are minimal.

"There's no repercussion for them," he noted to KCBS. "Their repercussion is, if they get caught, they go to jail; the next day, they're out walking around the streets. We want police to help us, and they are. We're setting up meetings with them. We've been discussing it with them. We just need more help from [Council District]14, from our council member, from our government, to help us with these types of things."

Employees of family-owned jewelry store fight back against hammer-wielding smash-and-grab assailants

Employees of a California jewelry store fought back against hammer-wielding assailants and repelled their smash-and-grab robbery attempt on May 22, 2022.

Video KTLA-TV obtained shows employees at the Princess Bride Diamonds store at the Bella Terra mall in Huntington Beach react quickly to several assailants with hammers running into the store around noon to smash the display cases. You can view KTLA's video report about the incident — which includes surveillance video of the fight — here.

Among the employees were a brother and sister who work for their father. The Baca family has owned the shop for several years.

“We had an idea that it could happen, but it’s always different when it actually does happen,” Dallas Baca said, adding that one suspect hit him in the head with a hammer during the altercation.

“I didn’t even register it until after they left because there was so much like adrenaline going on,” Baca said of the strike to his temple area.

Sarah Baca told KTLA she "picked up a chair" and "hit the one guy in the head that was attacking Lily,” who is another employee.

“I’m just glad everyone’s OK. I’m glad that our team banded together, and we were able to put up a fight and stop what was happening,” she added.

The thieves stole about $7,000 worth of jewelry in the incident, Huntington Beach police spokeswoman Jennifer Carey said.

Other workers in the mall said they were happy the employees fought back.

“I guess they walked in the store, broke some things, but the family fought them off, so good for them, right?” surf shop worker Kyle Sary noted.

NYC jewelry store worker fights back when robbers threaten to kill him if he doesn't open display case. He survives, but crooks get away with $1K in rings.

A New York City jewelry store worker managed to escape injury after he fought back early this year against robbers who threatened to shoot him if he didn't open a display case. The robbers, however, got away with rings valued at $1,000 — and they both changed clothes during their getaway in an effort to evade capture.

Police said the pair watched Ray’s Midtown Jewelry on Lexington Avenue near East 45th Street for about half an hour before entering the store, the New York Daily News reported. Crime Stoppers said it all went down around 5:20 p.m. Jan. 4. One of the robbers racked his gun several times and threatened to shoot the 53-year-old worker if he didn’t open a display case, police told the paper.

But the worker fought back, wrestling with the second robber, who was toting a can of pepper spray, the paper said. With that, the gunman didn't wait on the outcome of the fight and smashed the glass display case with his gun, the Daily News noted.

While the worker wasn't hurt, police told the paper the duo ran off with rings valued at $1,000 — and changed their clothing. However, the Daily News said the gunman, while racking his weapon, left behind ballistic evidence police recovered. Authorities released surveillance images of the suspects and asked the public to help identify them, the paper said.

The Post reported that a man who gave only his first name — Michael — said he entered the jewelry store moments after the armed robbery.

“You could see the glass was smashed all over, and [the owner] was terrified,” Michael — a 57-year-old customer who works in financial services — told the paper. “He’s scared, you know. I mean, he hasn’t opened up since. And you feel bad for the guy because you know this is really killing his business. I mean, he’s got overhead, and he’s afraid to open.”

A clerk at a news stand right next to the jewelry store — who also gave only his first name, Sharif — told the paper he's scared that he'll also become a victim.

“New York City is a big problem now. No security,” the 58-year-old Brooklyn resident told the paper. “It is really getting very bad here. We have a problem. I do not know who comes in, who has a gun. They ask for $100 in [lottery tickets], and then they reach in their jacket, and I am worried they pull out a gun.”

Gun-wielding crook holds up convenience store, but clerk fights back while handing over cash. Crook fires shots — and he miraculously misses.

Valins Cesar opened the Bi-Low Market in Delray Beach, Florida, around 7 a.m. Dec. 5, 2021, and a male he identified as a regular customer walked in soon afterward.

“When he usually comes [in], he says, ‘Hey, brother, how you doing?’ And we would make a joke and stuff,” Cesar recalled to WPBF-TV. But the familiar customer was not in a laughing mood this time — and Cesar told the station the male walked around the counter, pulled out a gun, and pointed it at Cesar’s head.

“He says, ‘Open the register. Give me the money,’” Cesar recounted to WPBF. “I’m like, ‘OK. That’s what you want.’ And I open the register and give him the money.” Surveillance video captured the moment Cesar held the wad of cash and dropped it the crook's bag — as well as the life-and-death decision Cesar made next. Video shows Cesar throwing a fast punch when the gunman appeared to be looking away, and then a struggle broke out. Cesar shoved the gunman backward and through the door that separates the area behind the counter from the rest of the store.

As the gunman stumbled to the floor, he fired a shot into the ceiling, the station said, adding that seconds later, the gunman fired another shot — and this bullet flew past Cesar and hit a box of cigars.

“I didn’t know the gun was real,” Cesar told WPBF, noting his reasons for deciding to fight the gunman. “When he goes down, the gun went off like boom! That’s when I realized the gun is real.”

Other thoughts went through Cesar's mind as well, the station said — and they were all about his wife and children. “I was thinking, 'If I was to die, I mean, who's gonna help them?'” Cesar recounted to WPBF. “I mean, like, the kids need their father.”

Police identified the suspect as Brandon Bryant, who was in police custody, the station said, adding that investigators noted Bryant also is responsible for an armed robbery two days prior at Bodega Delray.

WPBF added that despite the hair-raising incident, which included a bullet flying past him, Cesar didn't miss any work. Why? Because he has a family to feed, he told the station. You can view a video report about the incident here.