Business owners on edge after Philly shop robbed by armed suspects in bulletproof vests
PHILADELPHIA - Monique Varona says she woke up to a phone call asking if she was OK after a terrifying ordeal unfolded on the same street she goes to work every day.
"I just thought of the fact that now I need to watch myself, you know," Varona said . "It’s scary, times change, people change, and you just have to be careful."
She owns a business on North 5th Street, not far from the robbery that escalated into a barricade situation this weekend.
Three armed men wearing masks and bulletproof vests were found fleeing the S&Z Gift Store around 11:30 p.m. Saturday.
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Sources tell FOX 29's Steve Keeley that one of the suspects was handcuffed by police, but was able to escape.
No arrests were made after an hourslong barricade that ended with the store owner and a second victim being injured.
Fortunately, Varona and her business are safe, and she says the S&Z Gift Store has recently reopened.
"I just gotta’ watch my back, and I’m not going to let nobody stop my flow, I just gotta’ be aware of certain things going on in the area," she says. "Hopefully, after this, things will change for the better, and things will go back to being the way they were."