A Las Vegas vape shop owner allegedly stabbed a would-be thief, and a video of the event quickly went viral online.
A video surfaced on Wednesday wherein the 22-year-old Jonathan Nguyen, owner of Smokestrom Smoke Shop, was seen defending himself for stabbing the assailant a total of seven times before he crashed on the floor.
However, the other rubber who is just 17 years old, jumped over the counter, that was the time Nguyen grabbed a knife and defended himself from the ski-mask-wearing intruders. He began stabbing him so many times, that the robber cried out, “I’m dead.” Obviously, he wasn’t dead, but he was severely injured.
Nguyen recalled, “I remember him saying, ‘Please don’t let me die. 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.”
More details of this robbing incident from ‘The New York Post’ report:
A Las Vegas vape store owner repeatedly stabbed a crook who frightened him by jumping over his counter during a botched robbery, according to the video and the worker’s account of the incident.
Video footage showed the brazen broad-daylight heist on Wednesday, in which Johnny Nguyen, owner of Smokestrom Smoke Shop, stabbed the unidentified assailant at least seven times before the robber yelled, “I’m dead” and fell to the ground.
Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department officials told The Post that cops responded Wednesday afternoon to a robbery incident at the vape business but would not release further details.
“I was scared for my life,” Nguyen told The Post on Friday. “When they came in, one of them had a bag in front of him like he had a firearm or something. I didn’t have much time to think. I grabbed my knife right next to the register.”
Nguyen, 22, said it was around 3:25 p.m. on Wednesday when two men wearing black ski masks entered his shop while another stood by the door. Video footage showed Nguyen asking the two suspects why they were wearing the ski masks.
When Nguyen asked them to leave, one of the suspects grabbed the tip jar.
You can watch the video below:
Politicians have forced store owners to take law and order into their own hands. pic.twitter.com/VXnY6iJEKH
— Andrew Pollack (@AndrewPollackFL) August 5, 2022
Nguyen, who is still in ‘shock’ over the incident, said he is thankful that he survived the ordeal. He said the incident left him “shook” and he plans to look into arming himself with other weapons for protection.
Here’s what Nguyen, who turns 23 on Saturday, told The Post:
“Small business owners like us, this is our livelihood. Not only are they threatening our lives, but our livelihood, so we have to stay vigilant.”
I hope that kid will be okay, and I hope that he and his friend learned a huge lesson and will turn their lives around.
The Las Vegas vape shop stabbing is the latest in a string of crimes that the state has seen. In fact, some areas in LA have seen an increase in murders, assaults, and robberies since 2021.
Even though the Covid-19 shutdown had a negative impact on crime in 2020, violent crimes have only gone up in some areas of the State since then.
Sources: WayneDupree, The New York Post