NYPD searching for 3 suspects who broke into Brooklyn jewelry store
BAY RIDGE, Brooklyn (WABC) -- Three thieves were caught on camera breaking into a jewelry store in Brooklyn in the middle of the night.
But their plans were stopped when the owner turned out to be inside and chased them out.
The family that owns Pyramids Jewelry International in Bay Ridge says the video shows the masked suspects in the act at about 2:30 Friday morning.
The incident played out in about eight minutes, from the moment the men pulled up, to when they peeled away empty-handed.
There was apparently a getaway driver in a white sedan, plus a lookout man.
They even took their time going back into the car to hide when someone came passing by.
Eventually one suspect used bolt cutters to snip the opening in the metal gate and then climbed through the opening.
Once inside he used a hammer, smashing glass. But then owner Ibrahim Salem, who was in the back room, came barreling down the hallway, spooking the suspect who tripped all over himself as he ran off.
The alarm went off and he heard the sound of breaking glass, but Salem says he never panicked.
"I don't think, I just run to..even I don't think in my mind, I just run," he said. "Maybe whatever he have somebody jump inside the store, a hundred percent he have some weapon but I don't care. I was in the army, I run to him I don't care."
Salem says he actually saw them three days ago around midnight. They showed up wearing masks and gloves, fidgeting with the gate, and took off when he confronted them.
When asked what he would say to them if he ever saw them again, he says he would forgive them.
His daughters though were understandably rattled.
"The first thing I thought was my father was hurt," said Sarah Salem. "I was completely shaken because I had to stay with my niece. I kept in contact with my sister. I was like, I don't really care about anything. I don't care about the store. Just tell me my father is ok."
""I'm proud of him for going after the guy, if it was me I don't know what I would've done. Maybe hide, I don't know," said Hager Salem.
Police are still searching for the suspects.
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