POSTED: 10:11 am CST November 12, 2006


CHICAGO -- The backpack was the first thing that made Jose Torres suspicious of the two men. He'd seen it just a month earlier -- carried by a jewel thief who hit one of his customers who was walking out of his North Side jewelry store.

Having experienced eight robberies -- either his store or his customers -- in the past year, Torres has started to pay attention to these details. Sure enough, seconds later, a worker at Omar Jewelry nervously told him she thought one of the two had pocketed a piece of jewelry.

That was when Torres made his first 911 call. He'd make one more and hit his panic alarm button before Chicago Police arrived nearly 30 minutes later, he said. All the while, he kept an eye on the men, watching them as they got antsy and then finally asked Torres if he could open the door so they could leave.


But the police weren't there yet. So, Torres just couldn't let them walk out, and said no.

Torres -- who has to buzz people out of the store -- told everyone in the store in the 2200 block of North Milwaukee that no one was leaving.

"I had to take a chance," said Torres, whose family owns three jewelry stores and has been in business 25 years. "They usually don't carry guns. They were definitely up to something no good."

At one point, Torres' mother searched the two and found a piece of jewelry. Torres said they apologized and offered to pay. Again, he said no.

"They were running me out of business," Torres said. "All my customers are scared. They're being followed. These guys are so good. It gets scary. This has been a really, really not good situation."

The two men were taken into custody and were being questioned Saturday, police said. Security tapes from the store were being reviewed.

funkpill said:

Damn, that was fucking reckless.

2the9s said:

My thoughts exactly..