A Korean American-owned golf shop situated in Walnut, within Los Angeles County, recently fell victim to a robbery. The incident took place at Golfio, a golf equipment store in Walnut, around 5:30 p.m. on August 17.
In a video provided by the store, three black men were captured on camera seizing three sets of high-end golf clubs. They proceeded to shove both the manager and others present before making their escape.
Justin Lee, the proprietor of Golfio, remarked on the incident, “Experiencing a group robbery in broad daylight, a scenario typically seen only in news reports, feels surreal. Around 10 customers were inside the store during the robbery, fortunately without any injuries.”
The suspects absconded with a collection of XXIO golf clubs, a renowned brand in the golfing community. The pilfered golf clubs, appropriated by this trio, were assessed to have a value of $7,000 per set.
“The suspects appear to have meticulously planned the crime. Security cameras revealed that they parked their vehicles at a nearby gas station instead of the mall parking lot, a deliberate move to obscure their license plate numbers,” said Lee. “Upon reviewing the footage, we determined that the suspects had visited the store a week prior to the incident, likely to identify the valuable golf clubs.”
Naturally, the incident was reported to the police. Although law enforcement arrived at the scene and conducted an investigation, no significant developments ensued.
“As a business owner, this situation is incredibly frustrating due to the lack of feasible measures to avert such robberies,” expressed Lee, who went on to add, “We’ve since hired a security guard subsequent to the incident.”
Meanwhile, other Korean American-owned establishments operated by sole proprietors have also fallen victim to mob robberies in recent days. These include a salad shop located in the Sherman Oaks vicinity of the San Bernardino Valley in northern Los Angeles, as well as a wedding shop situated in Orange County.
BY YEOL JANG [jang.yeol@koreadaily.com]
