Owner Of Robbed Burbank Doughnut Shop Recounts Near-Death Experience

BURBANK (CBSLA.com) — On March 22 at about 5:30 a.m., the owners of Kim's Donuts & Coffee in Burbank were making doughnuts like they did every morning, when they got the scare of their lives.

Two people wearing masks and sweatshirts burst into their shop. One of them had a gun.

"I told them just take whatever you want, and they said: 'Shut up!' And they kept coming to me with a gun, pointed the gun to myself and pulling me to the back of the store," Raul Gutierrez recalled.

Even though Gutierrez gave them what they wanted, he thought they were going to kill him no matter what.

"I just tried not to get shot. Have to survive. Try to get the gun away from my direction so it won't get me," Gutierrez explained.

As he tried to take the gun away, he wrestled with the suspect, who kept aiming at him. During the struggle, he managed to take the magazine out.

"He pulled the trigger, and I heard the click. One was saying: 'Shoot him, shoot him or get him'," the 45-year-old father recalled. But the gun did not fire.

Gutierrez said the second robber picked up the magazine and hit him in the face, splitting his lip and brow before taking off.

Burbank Police said the evidence left behind during the robbery helped them identify and arrest Timothy Hayes, 20, and Unique Rivers, 20, Wednesday.

With the help of the Glendale and Los Angeles police departments, investigators connected the suspects to five other armed robberies:

March 22, 2017: armed robbery at the Arco gas station located at 5800 San Fernando Road in Glendale

March 20, 2017: armed robbery at Yum Yum Donuts at 606 West Glenoaks Boulevard in Glendale

March 20, 2017: armed robbery at Daily Donuts located at 1908 Hillhurst Avenue in Los Feliz

February 16, 2017: armed robbery at Honey Donuts at 1883 Daly Street in Lincoln Heights

February 16, 2017: commercial burglary at Rite-Optics Optometry at 5591 Huntington Drive in El Sereno

Gutierrez said he was thankful he was not hurt, and the robbers were off the streets. "I'm happy that they caught them, and they won't do this to somebody else or come back here." he said.

Hayes and Rivers have been charged with five counts of robbery and six counts of burglary, according to Burbank police.

Both were held on $1.3 million bail.