North Miami Police released surveillance video of a Christmas Eve jewelry store robbery Wednesday, as the shop owner’s daughter asked for the public’s help in finding her father’s assailants.
Five men wearing hoods and masks stormed the 7th Avenue flea market and shot up the Bright Star jewelry store, police said.
The brazen robbers fired countless rounds as they told workers to get down on the ground, police said, and struck jewelry storeowner McNeil Wilson in the back.
“It’s evil, and their intent was obviously to kill this owner,” North Miami Police spokesman Major Neal Cuevas said.
Wilson’s daughter, Candace Wilson, spent the holiday by her father's bedside as he recovered from surgery.
“Christmas was the worst Christmas. My son, my family, everybody, we spent a Christmas Day in the hospital,” she said.
The father of 10 is expected to recover from his injuries.
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"He don't remember any faces or anything, all he remembered was trying to get away and look for cover, basically. And he knew he got hit once he was down,” Candace Wilson said.
Cuevas said it was “an absolute miracle that more people other than the owner weren't injured or killed."
Police said they hope the surveillance video will help them nab the robbers, who only made off with three trays of jewelry.
“I wish that somebody (would) come out and give us more information, ‘cause I almost lost my dad, a guy that (has) been here over 20 years,” Candace Wilson said.
She said the robbery has forced her father to close the shop he's run for the past 20 years.
"This really pushed him into (going) to retirement way sooner,” she said. “He was planning on retiring at 65 and as you guys know he's only 58."
Police said the robbers took off in a dark gray Chevy Traverse with tinted windows. They ask anyone with information on the case to call Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at 305-471-TIPS.
