Castroville store owner takes gun from robber during scuffle

A small business owner in Castroville robbed at gunpoint puts his life in danger and fights back.

The suspect is captured on surveillance video walking into Sam’s Smoke Shop & Fishing Supply on Thursday morning. He pulls out a gun, then points it at a customer before turning it on the store owner.

“He said the guy came from outside and he had the gun. He told me, ‘Give me the money,’ so I said, ‘Okay, come take the money,'” said Mohimed Altwiti, store clerk.

Altwiti wasn’t there, but recounted the store owner’s story. He said the store owner complied, at first. But once he watched the suspect round up the cash from the register, he went after him, knocking the suspect to the ground.

The two get into a full-on brawl across the floor of the store.

“He was behind the cash register and he just pulled the gun to him and he had a chance. He said, ‘I’m not going to let him take all my stuff for nothing, you know. We work hard seven days a week, 12 hours a day. And we have a kid. We work hard for our families,” Altwiti said.

During the scuffle, the store owner was able to take away the suspect’s gun. That’s when the suspect made a run for it.

The surveillance video captured the incident from multiple angles. Investigators hope it will lead them to the suspect.

Monterey County Sheriff’s deputies also hope fingerprints from the weapon and DNA from the scene will help in the investigation.

Altwiti said he has a right to protect himself and says taking the risk is worth it.

“We didn’t take from somebody else, and we don’t want someone taking from us. Plus we’ve been in this neighborhood for a long time. We have a good family here. I have my kid, my wife. We’re all a family here,” he said.

While the store owner in this case is OK, deputies don’t encourage people to take matters into their own hands. They want the public to call them if they become a victim of an armed robbery.