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Chicago-area restaurant owner robbed at gunpoint: 'I thought God help me'
An armed robbery took place at a busy suburban Chicago Venezuelan restaurant, leaving the owner shaken, and it was all caught on camera.
MELROSE PARK - A Melrose Park restaurant owner is recounting the terrifying moment he says armed robbers stormed into his business and held him at gunpoint as stunned customers dined just feet away.
The backstory:
The armed robbery happened May 12 at Arepa Express on Lake Street.
Surveillance video captured the suspect walking through the restaurant without a mask on before allegedly pulling out a handgun and confronting the owner.
The owner, who asked not to be identified, said he feared for his life during the encounter.
"I thought he was going to shoot me. When someone pulls out a gun, it’s because they’re going to use it. I thought ‘God help me.’"
The owner said the suspect first came into the restaurant as a customer, ordered food and left. He later returned multiple times asking to use the restroom before the situation escalated.
"After the third time he returns. He takes out his gun and points it at me and threatened to kill me. I don’t wish that experience on anybody," the owner said.
According to the owner, the suspect stole roughly $10,000 worth of jewelry, including an 18-karat Gucci chain, a bracelet and a law school graduation ring from Venezuela.
"It’s my graduation ring from when I graduated law school in 2014. It was a gift from my parents," the owner said.
The owner said a customer called 911 after the suspect fled the restaurant.
"He told me to get on the floor, so I did. After a few seconds, a customer came over to help me get up and tell me that he was gone," the owner said.
While he said the stolen jewelry can be replaced, the sentimental value behind the ring has been especially difficult to process.
The owner said what's even more upsetting is that the person who stole from him appears to be from his own community and country.
"I’ve been a resident for eight years now and it’s always a shame when it’s your own people doing these crimes."
What's next:
Melrose Park police said no arrests have been made, but investigators are pursuing a person of interest believed to live in the area.
The Source: The information in this article was reported by FOX Chicago's Leslie Moreno.