Police were called to Najaf Jewellers located on Sydney Road in the inner Melbourne suburb of Brunswick on Saturday 4 June.
Soroush Haqiqi, the business owner’s son, told Jeweller three men came running towards the shop at around 2.30pm wielding a shotgun, a hammer and a knife and tried to force entry.
He said after about 20 to 30 seconds of them trying to get in they ran away.
“They were pointing the shotgun and knife at us trying to get us to back away from the door,” Haqiqi explained.
Although nothing was taken the front window was damaged during the incident.
It follows a similar attempt in February last year when masked offenders, allegedly carrying tasers and other weapons, tried to enter Najaf Jewellers by smashing the front door with a baseball bat. They left empty handed.
Haqiqi is the owner of Mecca Jewellery, another jewellery store located on Sydney Road that was robbed of up to $50,000 in gold jewellery in January 2015 by a man who was reportedly armed with a knife.
A third store, Medina Jewellery, which is located on the same street and was owned by Haqiqi’s family friends, also had at least $250,000 in jewellery stolen by three men said to have been carrying a gun, a knife, a taser and an axe in October 2014.
When asked if he thought the crimes were connected or were being perpetrated by the same gang, Haqiqi said: “Anything is possible. I can’t say really. I’m not sure but probably.”
“There is a big amount of jewellery in these shops and it’s a bit further away from the city and there’s not that much police enforcement here,” Haqiqi commented.
He added $500,000 had already been spent on security at Najaf Jewellers, including CCTV, doors and windows.
Minimising damage
A Victoria Police spokesperson said the reason no jewellery was stolen was because of the security system the store had in place.
“Toughened, bullet proof glass, ensured the offenders were not able to smash their way into the store,” the spokesperson explained.
“Also the double door system utilising sensors and locking mechanisms ensured the offenders were not able to get into the store to make any demands.”
The spokesperson added the ongoing investigation was being managed by the Fawkner Embona Taskforce – a specialist armed robbery unit – and the business’ 25 camera CCTV system has provided critical evidence.
They also praised the store’s procedures whereby staff remained calm, locked inner and outer doors and immediately called 000, which was said to dramatically reduce the amount of time the offenders’ had available.
The spokesperson said there was “definitely” no link between the most recent incident and the other robberies from 2014 and 2015.
Anyone with any information should contact Crime Stoppers.
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