Anaheim jewelry store owner scares off mob of thieves by firing warning shot
The owner of an Anaheim jewelry store scared off a mob of thieves trying to break in by shooting a warning shot at them.
Around 20 people tried to break into Al-Amira Jewelry with sledgehammers and pickaxes on July 17.
Some of the owner's familymembers were in the store during the attempted robbery.
ANAHEIM, Calif. - An Anaheim businessowner recently scared off a mob of thieves trying to break into his store by firing a warning shot at the crowd. The whole thing was caught on store security footage.
What we know
The attempted robbery happened at Al-Amira Jewelry on July 17. The owner told FOX 11 that it was close to closing time, when five cars pulled up to the front of the store.
Security camera footage showed about 20 people piling out of the cars and mobbing the store's entrance. Some of them had sledgehammers and pickaxes and started smashing the door.
SUGGESTED: East Hollywood car crash: Dozens injured waiting outside nightclub; driver attacked
Seconds later, though, the group scattered, got back into their cars, and they all drove off.
Video from inside the store showed the other angle. When the people inside saw the thieves, they ran behind the counter. Several came back out to the front, armed. That's when the owner fired one shot.
What they're saying
The store's owner, said he thinks the group was watching the store. He said the group moved in just several minutes after one of the last customers left the store.
The owner said he heard a loud noise, and when he looked at the door, he saw "many people. I can't count it."
"Then I have to defend myself and my store and my employees. I take my gun, I shoot one bullet, I scare him (the person at the door), he moved and the problem is done," the owner said.
The owner said that some of his familymembers were in the store when the group rushed the door.
"Every single one of them was covered in black, head to toe," said Mohammad Abuershaid, an attorney for the jewelry store.
"Everybody should be vigilant and careful," said Mohammed Kahn, a customer. "If they notice anything suspicious, they should speak up and report, so everyone is safe."
For 30 years, Mahmud Salem has owned Sahara Falafel, a popular restaurant near Al-Amira Jewelry. He says he has never seen anything like this here before.
"It was like a movie," said Salem. "It's so sad. People are hungry and looking for bigger stuff [to steal]."
SUGGESTED: Several thieves storm Artesia jewelry store in bold smash-and-grab
Dig deeper
The owner's lawyer told FOX 11 that the store has had one similar incident before, but the thieves couldn't get into the store then either.
About a month ago, another jewelry store across the street was also targeted by thieves. In that case, crooks drove a vehicle through the front of Besan Jewelry. The robbers then took jewelry estimated to be worth more than $3 million.
The Source
Information in this story is from security camera footage from Al-Amira Jewelry in Anahaim and an interview with the store owner.

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
4 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Ex-marine convicted of killing three people released to US in prisoner swap
A Venezuelan American murderer and ex-US marine, who killed three people in Spain in 2016, was released to the US during last Friday's high-profile prisoner swap between the US, El Salvador and Venezuela, according to media and NGO reports. Dahud Hanid Ortiz, who was convicted last year in Venezuela of a triple homicide in Madrid, is one of the 10 US nationals that arrived in Texas last Friday. 'The United States welcomes home ten Americans who were detained in Venezuela,' Marco Rubio, the secretary of state, said in a statement after the exchange. 'It is unacceptable that Venezuelan regime representatives arrested and jailed US nationals under highly questionable circumstances and without proper due process. Every wrongfully detained American in Venezuela is now free and back in our homeland.' Ortiz had been tried, convicted and sentenced last year in Venezuela of the murders. The White House did not respond to calls and emails requesting comment by time of publication. A state department spokesperson did not discuss specifics of Ortiz's case when asked by the Guardian. 'The United States had the opportunity to secure the release of all Americans detained in Venezuela, many of whom reported being subjected to torture and other harsh conditions,' the state department spokesperson said. 'For privacy reasons, I won't get into the details of any specific case.' Ortiz can be seen in two separate images, shared by a state department social media account. In one image, Ortiz is smiling and looking at the camera while sitting on a plane. Last week, the US state department, coordinating with the Salvadorian and Venezuelan governments, participated in a large-scale prisoner swap between the three countries. A total of 252 Venezuelans, previously detained in the US and expelled to a notorious Salvadorian prison under the Alien Enemies Act, were returned to Venezuela. In exchange, the US received 10 American nationals who were detained in Venezuela. Among them was Ortiz. The Venezuelan NGO, Foro Penal, which tracks the movement of political prisoners in the country, released a notice on Monday, mere days after the prisoner swap, confirming the release of the 10 American prisoners. But, in their statement, they clarified that only nine of the US nationals released were 'political prisoners'. 'One of the 10 Americans/residents, who were formerly detained, was not classified as a political prisoner, which is why we only documented nine formerly detained,' the organization wrote, alluding to Ortiz's case. Ortiz carried out a violent murder in Madrid, Spain, in 2016 which made international headlines. According to press reports, in a fit of jealousy, Ortiz drove from Germany to Spain to track down his ex-wife's new partner, Víctor Joel Salas, an attorney based in Madrid. Ortiz had previously threatened Salas, a Spanish newspaper reported. Ortiz entered Salas's office and instead found two women, employees of the law firm. He stabbed the two women and waited for Salas to enter the office. When a taxi driver and client of the law firm entered, Ortiz stabbed the man, set fire to the law firm's offices and fled. Salas arrived shortly thereafter and discovered the three bodies, El País reported. The ex-marine and Iraq war veteran quickly left Spain and arrived in Germany shortly after the murders. Spanish officials, who investigated the case, began an international manhunt to track him down, but due to bureaucratic holdups, German police were unable to arrest him. Ortiz fled to Colombia and crossed the border into Venezuela, where he was later caught by officials in 2018. Despite Spanish authorities' requests for Ortiz's extradition, Venezuela refused, deciding to try him for the murders there because he had been a Venezuelan citizen. In January 2024, he was sentenced by a Venezuelan court to 30 years in prison for the triple murder. This Friday, Ortiz was released to the US and arrived in Texas on a flight, welcomed with open arms by Trump administration officials. Salas, who was almost killed by Ortiz, told the Spanish TV program Vamos a Ver on Tuesday that he and the victims' families had been shocked by news of Ortiz's release. 'We all feel like we've been deceived, betrayed and let down,' he said. 'We feel deceived because Dahud Hanid Ortiz was never a political prisoner; he was a murderer who was convicted and sentenced by the Venezuelan authorities. The case record makes it quite clear that he's a criminal.' Salas also questioned how José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero – the former Spanish prime minister and a mediator between Venezuela and the US – could have acted as he did knowing 'who it was that he was freeing'. He called on Zapatero and others who had been 'kind enough to free someone who murdered three people' to take all necessary action to 'undo this injustice'. The lawyer said he and the victims' families were afraid Ortiz could decide to return to Spain. 'The fear's always there,' he told the TV programme. 'The surprising thing in all this is that it was the German authorities who contacted me to say they were activating red alerts so that he's not allowed back into the Schengen area.' Salas renewed his criticism of the Spanish government in an interview with TeleMadrid, saying the authorities had neither informed him of the murderer's release, nor offered him protection. 'The message they're sending out is that anyone can come to Spain, kill three people – and get away with it,' he said. The lawyer added that 'the governments of Donald Trump and Maduro have just handed a killer his freedom – someone who's a real danger to society – without anyone bothering to provide a real explanation'. In March of this year, the Trump administration invoked the Alien Enemies Act, declaring that the Tren de Aragua gang was invading the US at the behest of the Venezuelan government. Hundreds of Venezuelan men, accused of being gang members, were quickly expelled to El Salvador and detained in the notorious Cecot prison. The accusations that the men were all gang members was based on flimsy evidence by homeland security officials. After the quick and quiet expulsion to El Salvador, news organizations began revealing the identities of some of the men, including a gay Venezuelan makeup artist who was seeking asylum in the US. 'In the four months that the men were imprisoned in CECOT, the Trump administration repeatedly insisted that they were not under US custody,' said Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, a policy analyst with the American Immigration Council, in a blogpost. 'Rather, they claimed that El Salvador maintained sole custody over the men and the United States had no control over their fate.' Reichlin-Melnick points out that the prisoner swap undermines the US's past statements, especially with the state department taking credit over the exchange, saying the deal happened 'thanks to President Trump's leadership'. The American nationals detained in Venezuela made a quick stop in El Salvador before being flown into Texas. The 252 Venezuelan men detained by the US and El Salvador were flown to Venezuela. The American nationals released include Wilbert Joseph Castañeda, Jorge Marcelo Vargas, Lucas Hunter, Jonathan Pagan Gonzalez, Ronald Oribio Quintana, Erick Oribio Quintana, Fabian Buglione Reyes, Renzo Huamanchumo Castillo, Juan Jose Faria Bricen and Ortiz, per CNN. Although the nature of their arrests in Venezuela is not entirely known, one particular case stands out. Castañeda was detained by Venezuelan authorities in August 2024, along with two other Americans, two Spaniards and a Czech citizen. Although the US government and his family have repeatedly claimed Castañeda was in Venezuela for a personal trip, the Venezuelan government accused the group of men of participating in a CIA-led plot to overthrow the government and assassinate the president, Nicolás Maduro. Records accessed by confirmed Castañeda was a Navy Seal at the time of his arrest. Earlier this month it was reported that the prisoner swap deal had been under way for some time, but that miscommunication between Trump administration officials botched it, the New York Times reported. The US government has engaged in a number of prisoner swaps with Venezuela in recent years. Under the Biden administration in 2022, the US swapped seven Americans in exchange for two of Maduro's nephews. In 2023, the Venezuelan government released 10 American nationals and a US-wanted fugitive, for the exchange of Alex Saab, a close Maduro ally and former US government informant. And earlier this year, Venezuela freed six Americans after a Trump administration envoy met with Maduro. Officials accused Ortiz of unsuccessfully attempting to pay Venezuelan authorities so that he could be included in the 2023 prisoner swap related to Saab, according to reporting from a Venezuelan newspaper.
Yahoo
4 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Tally of Microsoft Victims Surges to 400 as Hackers Exploit SharePoint Flaw
(Bloomberg) -- The number of companies and organizations compromised by a security vulnerability in Microsoft Corp.'s SharePoint servers is increasing rapidly, with the tally of victims soaring more than six-fold in a few days, according to one research firm. Trump Awards $1.26 Billion Contract to Build Biggest Immigrant Detention Center in US Why the Federal Reserve's Building Renovation Costs $2.5 Billion Salt Lake City Turns Winter Olympic Bid Into Statewide Bond Boom Milan Corruption Probe Casts Shadow Over Property Boom The High Costs of Trump's 'Big Beautiful' New Car Loan Deduction Hackers have breached about 400 government agencies, corporations and other groups, according to estimates from Eye Security, the Dutch cybersecurity company that identified an early wave of the attacks last week. That's up from roughly 60 based on its previous estimate provided to Bloomberg News on Tuesday. The security firm said that most of the victims are in the US, followed by Mauritius, Jordan, South Africa and the Netherlands. The National Nuclear Security Administration, the US agency responsible for maintaining and designing the nation's cache of nuclear weapons, was among those breached, Bloomberg reported earlier. The National Institutes of Health was also impacted through the SharePoint flaws, according to a person familiar with the matter. Andrew Nixon, a spokesperson for the Department of Health and Human Services, said, 'The Department and its security teams are actively engaged in monitoring, identifying, and mitigating all risks to our IT systems posed by the Microsoft SharePoint vulnerability.' 'At present, we have no indication that any information was breached as a result of this vulnerability,' he said, adding that the department is collaborating with Microsoft and the US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. The Washington Post previously reported that NIH was breached. The hacks are among the latest major breaches that Microsoft has blamed, at least in part, on China and come amid heightened tensions between Washington and Beijing over global security and trade. The US has repeatedly criticized China for campaigns that have allegedly stolen government and corporate secrets over a period spanning decades. The real number of victims from the SharePoint exploits 'might be much higher as there can be many more hidden ways to compromise servers that do not leave traces,' Eye Security's co-owner Vaisha Bernard said in an email to Bloomberg News. 'This is still developing, and other opportunistic adversaries continue to exploit vulnerable servers.' The organizations compromised in the SharePoint breaches include many working in government, education and technology services, Bernard said. There were smaller numbers of victims in countries across Europe, Asia, the Middle East and South America. State-backed hackers tend to exploit major cybersecurity weaknesses, like the SharePoint vulnerability, in waves, according to Sveva Scenarelli, a threat analyst with Recorded Future Inc. They start with secretive, targeted hacks and then, once the vulnerability is discovered, will begin using it more indiscriminately, she said. 'Once access has been acquired, individual threat groups can then triage compromised organizations, and prioritize those of particular interest for follow-on activity,' said Scenarelli, of the cyber intelligence firm's Insikt Group. She said this can include finding ways to maintain access to a compromised network, burrowing deeper and setting up paths to steal sensitive information. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who is set to meet his Chinese counterparts in Stockholm next week for a third round of trade talks, suggested in a Bloomberg Television interview Wednesday that the SharePoint hacks will be discussed. 'Obviously things like that will be on the agenda with my Chinese counterparts,' he said. The security flaws allow hackers to access SharePoint servers and steal keys that can let them impersonate users or services, potentially enabling deep access into compromised networks to steal confidential data. Microsoft has issued patches to fix the vulnerabilities, but researchers cautioned that hackers may have already got a foothold into many servers. Microsoft on Tuesday accused Chinese state-sponsored hackers known as Linen Typhoon and Violet Typhoon of being behind the attacks. Another hacking group based in China, which Microsoft calls Storm-2603, also exploited them, according to the company. The Redmond, Washington company has repeatedly blamed China for major cyberattacks. In 2021, an alleged Chinese operation compromised tens of thousands of Microsoft Exchange servers. In 2023, another alleged Chinese attack on Microsoft Exchange compromised senior US officials' email accounts. A US government review later accused Microsoft of a 'cascade of security failures' over the 2023 incident. Eugenio Benincasa, a researcher at ETH Zurich's Center for Security Studies who specializes in analyzing Chinese cyberattacks, said members of the groups identified by Microsoft had previously been indicted in the US for their alleged involvement in hacking campaigns targeting US organizations. They are well known for their 'extensive espionage,' he said. It's likely that the SharePoint breaches are being carried out by proxy groups that work with the government rather than Chinese government agencies directly carrying out the hacking, according to Benincasa. Private hacking companies in the country sometimes participate in 'hacker for hire' operations, he added. 'Now that at least three groups have reportedly exploited the same vulnerability, it's plausible more could follow,' he said. 'Cybersecurity is a common challenge faced by all countries and should be addressed jointly through dialogue and cooperation,' said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun. 'China opposes and fights hacking activities in accordance with the law. At the same time, we oppose smears and attacks against China under the excuse of cybersecurity issues.' According to Microsoft, the hacking group Linen Typhoon was first identified in 2012, and is focused on stealing intellectual property, primarily targeting organizations related to government, defense, strategic planning, and human rights. Violet Typhoon, first observed in 2015, was 'dedicated to espionage' and primarily targeted former government and military personnel, non-governmental organizations, as well as media and education sectors in the US, Europe, and East Asia. The hackers have also used the SharePoint flaws to break into systems belonging to the US Education Department, Florida's Department of Revenue and the Rhodes Island General Assembly, Bloomberg previously reported. Edwin Lyman, director of nuclear power safety for the Union of Concerned Scientists, said that while the National Nuclear Security Administration possesses some of the most restricted and dangerous information in the world, the networks where classified information are stored are isolated from the internet. 'So even if those networks were compromised, I'm not sure how such information could have been transmitted to the adversaries,' Lyman said in an email. 'But there are other categories of information that are sensitive but unclassified, that may be treated with less care and might have been exposed. This includes some information related to nuclear materials and even nuclear weapons.' --With assistance from Lucille Liu, Ari Natter and Jessica Nix. (Updates with details of NIH breach starting in fourth paragraph.) Elon Musk's Empire Is Creaking Under the Strain of Elon Musk Burning Man Is Burning Through Cash A Rebel Army Is Building a Rare-Earth Empire on China's Border What the Tough Job Market for New College Grads Says About the Economy How Starbucks' CEO Plans to Tame the Rush-Hour Free-for-All ©2025 Bloomberg L.P. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data


Fox News
7 minutes ago
- Fox News
Chicago Public Schools agrees to pay feds back $1 million over misallocated grants
FIRST ON FOX – The Chicago Public Schools district and the Department of Education (ED) reached an agreement to pay back over $1 million after issues arose when the district reported their Native Indian student population when applying for federal grants. Documents obtained by Fox News Digital show that the ED's Office of Inspector General found that Chicago Public Schools were counting South Asian students from Myanmar, Pakistan and Nepal as Native Americans to receive additional federal funding. The repayment of funds is not considered a fine because the amount owed by the school district resulted from an agreement between the school district and the ED. Chicago Public Schools officials received federal funding from the Indian Education Formula Grant, which provides educational and cultural programming to students of Native American and Alaska Native Ancestry. The American Indian Education Program, managed by Chicago Public Schools' Office of Language and Cultural Education, received an annual grant from the ED's Office of Indian Education – the program's primary subsidy. In order to obtain funds, the Office of Indian Education would allocate an amount based on the total number of students enrolled in Chicago Public School's American Indian Education Program. Students are required to be of Native American ancestry. The case first opened in 2021, when the ED Office of Inspector General (OIG) reviewed data from Chicago Public School's student database showing over 1,000 students who identified as Native American. The investigation highlighted that several students' surnames indicated that they were of South Asian ancestry, specifically natives of India, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Pakistan. In 2024, the OIG investigation concluded the program manager and school district "intentionally" submitted and certified false information to the federal government for years. Chicago Public Schools' reporting of the information resulted in about $140,000 more federal funds than they were entitled to during the 2022-2023 and 2023-2024 school years. The ED investigation discovered further that hundreds of thousands of undeserved federal funding was granted to the district prior to 2022. The investigation estimated a total of more than $1.1 million in misallocated funds over the past decade. The Chicago Public School District is already facing enrollment struggles, budget woes, and had tensions with the teachers' union during their contract negotiations. The school district told Fox News Digital that at no point did CPS officials misidentify students by race or ethnicity. Contrary to what the OIG report states, CPS officials claimed there was no misclassification of South Asian students as American Indian. They also said they worked closely and cooperatively with the ED's Office of Indian Education to "review past practices and implement a stronger, more accurate system for collecting voluntary tribal enrollment information." "This includes clear protocols for verifying tribal membership through federally-recognized documentation from the student, parent, or grandparent through a voluntary process at each school," the spokesperson added. "The District is also enhancing training, data collection, and engagement efforts through the CPS Office of Multilingual-Multicultural Education (OMME), the Office of Family and Community Engagement (FACE), and other departments that work with Native families." CPS officials told Fox News Digital that ED's Office of Indian Education has commended them for "ongoing cooperation and for proactively addressing these issues." CPS said they will not apply for the American Indian Education grant for Fiscal Year 2026 to proceed with caution and to ensure full compliance in the future. "CPS has agreed to repay funds to the federal government because the District could not fully verify historical documentation related to the collection and submission of data confirming the identification of American Indian students as part of the District's application for the American Indian Education grant," the spokesperson said. However, an ED spokesperson who sent Fox News Digital the documents accused CPS of "knowingly submitting and certifying false information about their student population." Reacting to the CPS statement, the ED spokesperson doubled down, referring to the OIG investigation which "found that CPS's American Indian Education Program, at the direction of Program Manager (redacted), has continued to submit false program enrollment on federal grant applications in 2022, 2023, and 2024, even after OIG reported in 2021 that (redacted) and the AIEP have been significantly misstating program enrollment data on grant applications for several years."