Crime & Safety

Update: Jewelry Heist Foiled by Good Samaritans

Long Beach business owner struggled with would-be robber Monday, but 'several people' came to his rescue and detained intruder, police said.

Updated with Good Samaritan detail from Long Beach Police Department and the Press Telegram.

Several Good Samaritans helped a Long Beach jewelry store owner fight off and detain an alleged robbery suspect Monday, foiling the crime, police said.

The robbery attempt was made shortly before noon in the 1200 block of East Anaheim Street, near Orange Avenue, in a commercial stretch popular with Cambodian-American residents, said Long Beach Police Department's Lisa Massacani.

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"During the attempted robbery, a struggle ensued between the victim and the armed suspect, and the suspect's gun discharged," Massacani said in an e-mail. "Several people in the area came to assist the victim during the struggle, and helped detain the suspect until police arrived."

The store owner-victim and the attempted robbery suspect were transported to local hospitals with unknown injuries from the struggle, Massacani wrote.

Family members of the store owner, some of whom witnessed parts of the episode, told the Press Telegram's Greg Mellen that three men expressing interest in gold necklaces tried to enter the jewelry shop; only one was permitted in. After the store owner scuffled with the armed robber, three men visiting a neighboring Khmer kickboxing studio helped apprehend the suspect, the story reports.

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The Good Samaritans said they saw two young men jump into a car, possibly a Ford Thunderbird, and flee.

"I see a guy screaming and then my student (ran) over," Busong Seng, a martial arts master from New York, told the PT. His student, Seiha Hak, entered the store and helped subdue the suspect with an arm-bar hold while Seng and Sangva Chan Mam, another martial artist, followed.

Long Beach Police Sgt. Aaron Eaton said later Monday that the suspect was treated and released, and was being lodged at Long Beach City Jail.

City News Service earlier reported that three robbery suspects were involved in the case, apparently basing that on a witness or videographer at the scene (see below story).

Anyone with information can contact the Robbery detail at 562-570-7464, and anonymous tips via text or web may be left at www.tipsoft.com.

 

Earlier CNS story:

The owner of a jewelry store in Long Beach's Cambodian commercial was injured while struggling with one of three suspects who tried to rob his store Monday, and one of the suspects ended up in a hospital.

The attempted heist by three armed suspects occurred about 11:50 a.m. at a store in the 1200 block of East Anaheim Street, said Lisa Massacani of the Long Beach Police Department.

The owner struggled with one of the intruders, and the suspect's gun discharged, LBPD's Massacani said. Nobody was injured by the gunshot, but the store owner suffered unknown injuries in the struggle. One of the suspects was taken into custody and had to be hospitalized with unspecified injuries, Massacani said.

She said she could not immediately confirm a report from the scene that the suspect was beaten up by some nearby diner customers who were on a break from a martial arts conference.

--City News Service contributed to this report.


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