An unknown thug entered the Teddy Bears El Paraiso in Mesa, Arizona, on a busy Sunday afternoon in April and robbed the store at gunpoint, making off with around $800.
The store’s manager, who remains haunted by the crime, has just released the footage for the first time.
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During the robbery, the suspect pulled a handgun from his waistband and ordered everyone, including children, to put their hands in the air and move to the corner of the store.
The video showed a cashier handing money to the gun-wielding robber.
Unaware of what was happening, another male customer entered the store, and the gunman immediately ordered him into the corner with the others.
The video showed the robber pulling at the cash register, spilling coins over the counter, then grabbing a stack of bills and exiting.
The AZ Family report stated that besides selling toys, the store provides a money transfer service to other countries.
‘I get nervous. I don’t feel safe. You can tell when someone has the intention to do a lot of harm. I saw that in his (suspect’s) eyes,’ store manager Eliseo Francisco told AZ Family.
Francisco said his 9-year-old son was behind the counter when the incident occurred.
‘When he pointed the gun at me, I knew he would shoot me if I didn’t give him what he wanted. At that moment, I prayed to God to help me because it was life or death,’ he added.
Mesa Police Sgt. Jamey Cox agreed with Francisco’s description of events.
Terrified children stick their hands up after armed robber busts into Arizona TEDDY BEAR store to steal cash from registerhttps://t.co/0rR43vZEu9 pic.twitter.com/VnjGQ5xZwD
— DeepCoverPatriot☦️ (@samuelculper3rd) July 8, 2023
This sick bastard – he would have KNOWN there would be kids in that store!!! 😡https://t.co/7nkC5Qqpfe
— RD Carrington (@rdcarrington) July 8, 2023
Armed robbery of Teddy Bear store in Mesa, Arizona, caught on camera
https://t.co/IH4nYm0lAw— thaiparampil (@thaiparampil) July 8, 2023
‘It was a scary moment… He showed a handgun to kids in the middle of the afternoon in a toy store. So, to us, he’s dangerous, he’s armed, and we need to find him,’ the officer told Fox Phoenix.
The manager believes that they were targeted because of the money-transferring service he provides; he added the staff does not keep much cash in the register.
The suspect remains at large. He has been described as male, mid to late twenties, 5 feet 7 inches to 5 feet 9 inches tall, weighing between 150 and 160 lbs.
He wore blue jeans, a long-sleeved orange shirt, a black baseball cap, a black head mask, a red bandana, and black glove on his left hand, and gray sneakers with a white stripe. He was armed with a handgun.
Anyone with information on the suspect is asked to contact the police at (480) 948-6377.
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None of the children in the store were physically hurt during the robbery.
Francisco said that after the robbery, he took new security measures, including installing a barrier at the register and a new chime on the door. ‘I would feel calmer when he’s arrested and unable to do this again,’ he said.
According to the Mesa Police Department, the suburb is among the safest in the United States, with its current crime rate the lowest in the town’s recorded history.
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