Sarah Vaca, the co-owner of a jewelry store, was working when criminals burst into the establishment with hammers and started to “smash and grab.” That’s when Sarah and her employees handed the robbers a dose of instant karma they never saw coming.
Sarah Vaca, the co-owner of a popular family jewelry store, arrived for work at the family business at the Belle Terra mall in Huntington Beach, California, on a Sunday morning, unaware that she would collide with a malevolent force of criminals before day’s end.
Huntington Beach is famously known as “Surf City USA,” and crime is usually very low. So, it wasn’t surprising that the Princess Bride Jewelry store did not have guns on the ready behind the counters when surveillance video captured robbers bursting into the establishment with hammers and starting to “smash and grab.”
“Store surveillance video shows four hooded individuals entering the store. One of the suspects then smashes the front jewelry case with a hammer while another tries to grab some of the contents,” ABC News reported.
At that point, a store employee is seen running out and starting to attack one of the robbery suspects. Another female employee quickly joins in swinging and kicking the thieves over and over.
“It was very high energy a lot of adrenaline,” Sarah Vaca told reporters. “I’ve never been in a fight before in my life, so that was crazy.”
Sarah Vaca then joined in the fight by grabbing a chair and hitting one of the robbers on his back. A female employee is also seen kicking one of the robbers over and over while he lays on the ground before she shoves them out the door.
“I was just looking for something heavy that I could use to help (them) the best I could with, and something that could deter them from continuing to fight us further,” Vaca explained. “My brother ended up intercepting one of them, and actually clocked one of them in the face.”
According to ABC News, the employees successfully fought off all four criminals. During the fight, Vaca’s brother appears to get struck in the head by a suspect with a hammer, but he wasn’t badly hurt. It was also reported the dazed robbers only got away with three rings, and if they tried to pawn the stolen goods, law enforcement would be ready and waiting.
The Vaca family has been in the diamond business for years, according to KTLA News, but this was the first such attack they faced. According to co-owner Dallas Vaca, the focus was on forcing the intruders to leave, and the video backs up his claim by showing the robbers literally getting their butts kicked out the door.
“We had an idea that it could happen, but it’s always different when it actually does happen,” said co-owner Dallas Vaca.
While this situation didn’t turn out well for the robbers, some law enforcement experts say that had the robbers been more heavily armed, the situation could have turned out much worse.
“No one in that store’s life is worth any diamond or watch or piece of jewelry,” said law enforcement expert Bruce Thomas. “They were very fortunate the criminals did not have any weapons, beyond what they used to smash that display case,” Thomas added. “If there was a gun involved, this could have turned out very, very differently.”
During an interview with reporters, Sarah Vaca shared her thoughts, saying her family felt strongly about protecting their business.
“This is our family business, we wanted to protect,” she said. “We feel very strongly about like, I guess like, protecting what’s ours.”
Sarah Vaca’s sentiments are pretty universal in America. We all have a right to protect and defend ourselves and our property, and many would say those criminals were lucky the Vaca family hadn’t armed themselves with guns in the event of this type of robbery.
As crime rates spike around the country, Americans who never felt they needed to arm themselves or take measures to ensure their own safety is on the rise. Would-be criminals should heed the outcomes of other criminals who weren’t as lucky as those thieves in Huntington Beach.
