‘Very traumatizing’: Family shares video of violent robbery involving multiple victims

Update, June 27: Sources tell FOX31’s partner station in El Paso, Texas, that a federal law enforcement operation there on Thursday night is linked to this case. Read more here.

DENVER (KDVR) — The shop Joyeria El Ruby is family-owned and operated and has been in Denver for 24 years, but the owners became victims of a violent robbery on Monday.

“Yes, I am very scared, mostly for our kids,” said Lidia Tena, the shop owner.

Just before 2 p.m. Monday, Myrna Munoz said a man came into the shop and pretended to be shopping. She said a few minutes later, three more men came in the front door and entered the “cage” area of the shop.

Munoz said something did not feel right. She asked the three men to take off their sunglasses and hats, to which they agreed. But within a matter of seconds of them getting in, things turned violent.

“They all pulled guns, the individual here pulled a gun then the other three did as well,” Munoz said.

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The family believes the original man who first came in to pretend to shop propped the main door. Several of the men jumped the counter and began filling bags with jewelry while one held customers on the ground at gunpoint.

Munoz said she was able to push her daughter and grab her 18-month-old son and escape out the back door. She said her mom and cousin did everything they could to keep the robbers from making it to the back part of the shop.

But the robbers were able to push through and hold Tena and Munoz’s cousin at gunpoint before violently attacking them.

“They pinned my mom to the floor and hit her in the back of the head three times with a gun, then they hit my cousin,” Munoz said.

Tena said she tried to grab the panic button, but one of the robbers stopped her.

“I thought they would kill me after hitting me three times and they told me they would kill me and my niece if I moved towards the panic button,” Tena said.

Munoz said when she escaped, she took her kids to a store next door and went back to help when she saw four more armed men head into the store through the back door.

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“I saw four men coming in the back door with hats and glasses,” Munoz said. “They were all wearing white gloves and loading their guns.”

Munoz said her sister was in the bathroom when the robbery started, and when she walked out, she was also attacked by one of the robbers.

“He grabbed her by the hair, took her up the stairs and told her not to move or he was going to kill her,” Munoz said. “While she was face down on the floor, he was yanking all of her personal jewelry off.”

In a matter of three minutes, the eight robbers wiped out the store, leaving behind a mess and a shaken family.

“It’s very traumatizing. It’s an incredibly hard time for my family and we want the community to please share the videos if you know them,” Munoz said.

The Denver Police Department confirmed investigators are looking for eight Hispanic male suspects involved in this. Munoz said it sounded like the men were speaking with a Venezuelan accent.

Thankfully, Munoz said, the cameras caught clear images of the suspects. Anyone with information is asked to contact Metro Denver Crime Stoppers at 720-913-7867.

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