New Jersey Jewelry Store Owner Fights Back Against Violent Robber

A New Jersey jewelry store owner didn't back down when a robber brutally punched and beat him Tuesday night, instead fighting back in a fierce showdown captured on surveillance video.

Police said the suspect, Edgardo Cuevas, walked into Tony's Jewelers in Clifton pretending to be a customer and then when the 65-year-old owner, Tony Markar, turned his back, pounced. 

Cuevas is seen on surveillance video lunging over the counter to snatch expensive jewelry, and then repeatedly punching Markar. 

"He was intent on getting that jewelry one way or another at any expense," said Clifton Police Detective Sgt. Robert Bracken. 

"Obviously from the video, it's very graphic, violent, startling," he said. 

But Markar didn't back down, and he gave back as good as he got, the video shows.

"I think it was just a reaction," said Bracken. "He wasn't about to let anybody take anything from his store." 

The face-off was so violent the two shattered the counter's glass. As a last-ditch effort, the alleged robber jumped on top of the counter and appeared to put the owner into a headlock as he grabbed for more jewelry. 

The owner's wife, who had been Skyping with him, watched the terrifying scene play out from a computer screen in the back. 

"He was in the middle of speaking with her, she was in another store in another town and she watched the whole incident occur," said Bracken. 

The ordeal finally ended when the suspect ran from the store. Police were able to get a good enough look at the suspect and recognized an old mugshot of Cuevas from 2009. Cuevas was arrested in Clifton Thursday night. 

Attorney information for Cuevas wasn't immediately available. 

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