Surveillance video from a New Jersey bridal shop shows a suspect pointing a gun at the owners as a customer walks into the shop while the terrifying robbery is unfolding.
The video shows a man waving a gun at a customer who walks into Bruelle's Bridal in Clifton, N.J., then pointing the gun back toward the two sisters who own the store, sitting behind the desk.
"It was crazy, it was a nightmare," said co-owner Kaity Cherismay.
Cherismay's sister Natasha was sitting on the right side of the desk when the robber, wearing a shoulder bag and a baseball cap, walked in, she said. The man had visited the store twice before, claiming he was shopping for flower girl dresses.
"He pulled the gun and he said 'I'm not here for little girls' dresses. I need money,'" said Kaity Cherismay.
The sisters said they had no cash in the store. As Natasha tried to pull the security alarm under the desk, "he said, 'Put the hands where I can see it,' and that's when my sister put up her hands, and he said 'give me the ring.'"
Natasha handed over her $18,000 wedding rings, and moments later the shop's 2 p.m. appointment walked in on the robbery in progress.
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"He unclutched the gun and I thought he was going to shoot," said Kaity Cherismay. "And I was like 'Oh my God, our lives are over."
The robbery took place in September, and Kaity Cherismay still lives in fear because the suspect hasn't been caught. She's now hoping someone will recognize the robber and get him off the streets.
"I'm just hoping they catch the guy and for us to have peace of mind because right now, we don't know if he might come back," she said.
The Clifton police detective investigating the case was not immediately available to comment, but the department is asking anyone with information to come forward.
