East Charlotte store owner concerned for her safety after jewelry heist
Police are searching for a man accused of walking inside an east Charlotte store with a gun and stealing jewelry right out of the casings.
Yolanda’s Creations is back open after the incident around 11:30 a.m. Thursday. An employee said a masked man pointed a gun at staff members while stealing the items.
“Chains all there because they got all the chains,” Owner Yolanda Sanchez told Channel 9′s Hunter Sáenz. “I was like shocked.”
Sanchez sells dresses for quinceañeras, weddings and baptisms, but she rents out another section for a jewelry store to sell their merchandise.
“My concern is, it’s in the morning, just when you open, you know,” Sanchez said.
Surveillance cameras captured the robbery, showing the terrifying moments the masked and gloved suspect made an employee hand over necklaces, bracelets and more.
Thankfully, no one was hurt. Sanchez said she wasn’t there at the time of the incident, but arrived to find a startled employee.
“The lady was shaking yesterday when I come,” she said.
In the same strip mall as Yolanda’s Creations, Yolanda Garcia has owned a salon for 23 years and is concerned about what happened.
“I know, it’s terrible,” she said. “I worry because you never [know if they’ll] come here.”
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Garcia has taken precautions for herself and even showed Channel 9 an emergency button she’ll press to alert police if necessary. But she wants more action to keep the area safe.
“More security around the block, around the whole stores,” Garcia said.
Police said they are still searching for the suspect. They believe he’s the same man who robbed Adamary’s Restaurant earlier in October, just two miles away.
“I hope for the police to catch him, you know what I mean. They find him or make a follow on what’s going on,” Sanchez said.
(WATCH BELOW: 1 shot, killed after armed robbery call in east Charlotte, investigators say)
