MIAMI – Two masked gunmen tied up a worker and stole $11,000 in cash from a safe during a robbery at a Miami hardware store, police said.
The armed robbery was reported about 5 a.m. Monday at Shell Lumber & Hardware on Southwest 27th Avenue. The store doesn't open until 7 a.m.
Miami police spokesman Freddie Cruz said both men pointed their guns at the employee, John Ruark.
"At any given moment, they could have pulled that trigger," Cruz said. "Luckily, we're not handling a homicide investigation."
Cruz said the robbers ordered the employee to open a safe that was in the back office.
After one robber took the $11,000 inside the safe, the other ordered Ruark to lay face-down on the floor and tied the victims hands behind his back, authorities said.
"To know where to go, what to do, (and) what time to be there, sounds like they knew something," customer Dennis Perez told Local 10 News. "Sounds like someone else is involved."
"What we've seen in crimes like this is that these criminals actually do their homework," Cruz said. "They actually set up surveillance, if you will, at these properties (and) they see the employees' routines."
Miami police said they are looking for two men who got away in a white four-door sedan, possibly a Nissan or Hyundai.
A woman who works at the store found Ruark, untied him and called police.
Police said Ruark was not injured during the robbery.
Anyone with information about the robbery is asked to call Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at 305-471-TIPS.