The owner of a San Bernardino County novelty game store is speaking out after his store, open less than a year, was robbed a third time, with the latest thief threatening his employees with the threat of a weapon.
Surveillance cameras at the Into the Retroverse store, located in the 800 block of West Valley Boulevard in Colton, captured a man dressed in dark clothing, including a hoodie and mask, entering the store and walking directly behind one of the windows.
“He just started taking stuff and said, ‘I need money,’ and that’s when my buddy Alex went and tried to attack him,” Arturo said Store employee Garcia to KTLA’s Jennifer McGraw. “That’s when we started doing it in all-out brawls.
The April 12 incident happened around 8 p.m. and it’s not the first time thieves have targeted the game store. Into the Retroverse was robbed on November 6th and on Thanksgiving Day last year as well.
Footage of the incident shows the thief fighting with two store employees, including the owner’s brother. After a struggle that left much of the store’s merchandise scattered around the store, the three men fell to the ground where the shooter was unmasked.
“I tried to throw him to the ground,” said employee Alexander Bernal. “That’s when he got tired and pulled out his gun.”
Keeping his gun pointed at employees, the man continued to fill his bag with stolen merchandise before finally leaving the store with an estimated $3,000 to $5,000 worth of Pokémon cards, according to Jovanne Bernal, owner of the novelty store .
Bernal’s brother, Alexander, said the violence was frightening and he feared the robber would shoot him while he was still on the ground.
“After he pulled the gun out, he said he should have bothered me or he should have shot me,” Alexander said.
Into the Retroverse, a childhood dream of Jovanne’s, is located on Colton City Plaza across from Colton High School and has only been open for seven months.
“It sucks,” he told KTLA. “You spend your life trying to build it and then someone comes along and says I’m going to take it and the way things are right now, they can.”
The store owner filed a police report with the Colton Police Department, which already has a detective on previous thefts at the store, but says Colton City Plaza management needs to step up security before anyone one is attacked again or, worse, senselessly shot down.
“We are working on it,” is what the management of the place told him. “I’ve been robbed three times in the last six or seven months and they’re still working on it.”
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Jovanne also said seeing surveillance footage of the violent encounter shook him.
“It’s more personal because you talked to Alex, he’s my brother,” he said. “He’s had my back since day one.”
KTLA has contacted Colton City Plaza management and is waiting to hear if there are plans to get more security for stores and employees leasing space in the mall.
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