Surveillance video inside a vape shop in Las Vegas shows an owner defending himself with a knife from would-be robbers.
On Aug. 3, Johnny Nguyen, 22, was captured on film stabbing one of three juveniles who tried to rob his store, the Smokestrom Smoke Shop in the neighborhood of West Sahara in Las Vegas.
According to Nguyen, two masked individuals entered his shop while another stood by the door at around 3:25 p.m.on Aug. 3.
In the video, Nguyen can be heard asking them as they approach the counter, ”Why are you guys wearing masks like that?”
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After not receiving a response, Nguyen is then heard asking them “to just leave.”
When one of the robbers then grabs the tip jar and proceeds to the door, Nguyen asks them to take the money but “leave the coins.”
The thief grabs something else from the store shelf before fleeing out the door.
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The other assailant is then seen jumping over the counter, prompting Nguyen to grab a sharp object and stab him several times.
“At first I thought they were normal customers and then I realized they had like ski masks on,” Nguyen told 8 News Now. “I had to assume they had a firearm so I just wanted to make sure I could protect myself.”
Nguyen explained that while he did not see any firearm, he reacted because he “couldn’t take that chance.”
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The stabbed assailant can be heard screaming, “I’m dead, I’m dead,” as he collapses to the floor.
At the end of the clip, Nguyen is seen dropping the injured juvenile near the front door before calling 911.
“I remember him saying, ‘Please don’t let me die,’” Nguyen was quoted by the New York Post as saying. “He said he was sorry. By that point, he took off his mask himself. I was trying to get on the phone with the police when he was trying to talk to me. I just ran and wanted to make sure the police and ambulance would get here on time.”
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Authorities have since arrested the other juveniles involved in the botched robbery, while the stabbed teen was taken to a hospital. The condition of the stabbed teen remains unknown.
Featured Image via 8 News NOW Las Vegas
