CHICAGO (CBS) — In the dark of night, a suspected would-be thief began eyeing the pricey pieces inside a store on Jewelers Row downtown, and then smashed part of the door with a chain – only to be greeted by another shiny piece in the form of a gun.
As CBS 2’s Jermont Terry reported, the showdown early Friday morning was caught on surveillance cameras.
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On Friday night, the door to The Jewels of Chicago, 54 E. Madison St., was boarded up. The person who caused the damage ran away begging for mercy – only after the owner opened the door with a gun in hand.
As it stands now, it is hard to show off the merchandise when all the customers see at The Jewels of Chicago is that busted door.
“For me, this store is bread and butter,” said Qadar Mohammed, president and owner of The Jewels of Chicago.
There is plenty of shiny jewelry on display. But early on Friday morning, a man in a shiny blue jacket decided he wanted some free bling.
“We cannot predict who’s coming; who’s doing what after hours,” Mohammed said.
Surveillance video spotted the man in the blue coat lurking first. When people walked by along Jewelers Row just before 1 a.m., he waited for them to pass – and then peeked in the window of The Jewels of Chicago.
He then left for a second, only to come back with a heavy metal chain. He threw that chain at the glass door and smashed part of the glass.
“The first time he hit that and walked away, he was checking to see if he would hear an alarm,” said Jason Quach, who manages the building.
But the man only broke one panel of glass, so no alarm went off. Yet Quach was at the office at the time, and heard the commotion.
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“I don’t think he expected anyone to be inside,” Quach said.
And just as the crook picked up the chain again to break the second pane of glass, he found out just who was inside. It was Quach, who came out with a gun pointed.
“I didn’t get a chance to say anything to him. The moment he saw me come out with my firearm drawn, he quickly ran away,” Quach said, “and I just heard, ‘No, no, no.’”
A different angle showed Quach running down the stairs with his gun. The moment the door opened, the fear on the would-be thief’s face was clear.
Although Quach did not fire a shot, he said he was ready.
Terry: “You definitely scared the crap out of him.”
Quach: “I hope I did.”
Terry: “And the message to anybody else thinking about doing the same thing is what?
Quach: “Is it worth it?”
Some people were wondering where the crook got the heavy metal chain he used to shatter the window. A construction crew has been at work around the corner on Wabash Avenue, and it is suspected that the man picked up the chain there.
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The suspect remained at large Friday night.
