Despite Being Hit With Sledgehammer, Jewelry Store Owner Fights Back During Robbery

SANTA MONICA (CBSLA)  -- A jewelry store owner is lucky to not have been seriously hurt after he was hit by a sledgehammer during a robbery Thursday in Santa Monica.

It started around 2:40 on an otherwise normal Thursday afternoon.

The store is located on Montana Avenue, a busy area.

Surveillance video captured the owner tending to inventory when a masked suspect enters.

The store -- ironically named Heist --was calm and quiet when the masked man came in and after an instant, smashed a display case with the sledgehammer.

The owner's actions screamed "not today" and he intervened and began pushing the suspect outside.

Unbeknownst to the owner, another masked suspect appears and hits him with a sledgehammer he'd be carrying.

After a short struggle, the suspects left empty-handed.

CBS2/KCAL9's Jake Reiner spoke to the store's manager, who wished to remain off-camera.

"They took nothing, they didn't get anything. We heisted them, they didn't heist us," the manager says.

Santa Monica Police say the pair jumped in a getaway car and fled.

"They were caught because a guy outside in the Tesla, who is a customer of ours, saw them running up the street so he followed them, followed their car and was on the phone with the police the entire time," says the manager.

The two suspects and their get-away driver were eventually tracked down by officers and arrested.

A fourth suspect -- who police say missed the get-away car -- was also eventually arrested.

It turns out, three of the four were minors. All have been booked for robbery and assault.

The store owner suffered only minor injuries.