Exclusive: Victim in Midtown jewelry store robbery speaks out
NEW YORK (WABC) -- One of the victims in the Manhattan jewelry store heist that shut down a street in Midtown and has sparked a manhunt for two suspects is speaking exclusively to Eyewitness News.
Daniel Mikhaylov, one of the business' owners, sat down with reporter Kemberly Richardson to clear the air and talk about the frightening ordeal.
The incident happened around 2:30 p.m. Tuesday on West 47th Street just off Fifth Avenue, where the Veterans Day Parade was marching at at the time.
Two suspects, one posing as a deliveryman, held the employees of the eighth-floor store at gunpoint and forced them to open the safe containing hundreds of thousands of dollars in merchandise.
Mikhaylov says he was sitting as his desk when the first suspect approached, and he reluctantly buzzed him in after the man said he had papers for Mikhaylov's sister. He also spotted the second suspect waiting in the hallway on the store's security monitor.
An IT guy and a friend were also inside the one-room office, and there were dozens of high-end Rolex watches on the desk that were being photographed to be sold online. Mikhaylov insists that he had never before seen the man, who was getting more and more agitated by the second.
"I'm trying to stall, trying to give him less stuff, hoping that he'll get tired of being in here and leave," he said. "Then he starts saying, 'Stop moving so slow, hurry up,' and he starts waving the gun at everybody else, saying 'Hey, go open the safe, get more stuff.' Then she was arguing with him, saying 'No, you can't take this, you can't take that, that's our customers' stuff.' So he ends up taking a bunch of things, he just starts putting stuff in his bag."
We asked if he was afraid he was going to be shot and killed?
"I don't think I was more afraid for me to get shot and killed, I think it was more about the people around me," he said. "Because it's in my office, it's kind of my responsibility, you know? I mean, if he wanted to shoot and kill me, he could have shot and killed me as soon as he walked in."
And Mikhaylov was quick to dismiss any accusation that it may have been an inside job.
"Yeah, it could have been an inside job if I had insurance," he said. "I have no insurance. Zero. I have zero insurance, I lost customers' merchandise that I have to pay back out of my pocket. You know? It just doesn't make sense."
Mikhaylov says that at one point, his father actually interrupted the robbery and was viciously pistol-whipped by the suspect with what looked like a semi-automatic weapon.
The second suspect eventually entered, and the pair loaded up their bags and fled the scene, taking the elevator. Mikhaylov and his friend tried to give chase, taking the stairs while on the phone with 911, but the suspects got away.
Mikhaylov says that even though the suspects are still out there, he is not afraid. He is more annoyed about false reports that he says is tarnishing his reputation.
The suspects were caught on nearby surveillance video, and anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at (800) 577-TIPS (8477).
