Coin Dealer kills one man after failed robbery attempt!!

[Schatzy]

Feb 17th 2009

SAN DIEGO -- The owner of the Old Coin Shop and a clerk had just handled their first customer of the day when two men wearing hoods came to the security door.

 

"We buzzed them in, they pulled up masks, guns and charged down," said the owner.

 

The men were on them in seconds, waving guns and yelling that "this was a robbery."

"It was my thought that if we don't do something, we don't react to this, we will be executed in the store. That's the modus operandi -- lie people down on floor, they get what they want, shoot you, walk out, and have half an hour before anyone knows anything happened," said the owner.

 

The owner thought about other robberies, such as a robbery at another coin shop in La Mesa last spring in which 3 people were shot.

 

He and his clerk grabbed their own handguns.

 

"We fired, fired in defense our life, of being shot at," said the owner.

 

Bullets flew in each direction, with two striking one of the intruders and eventually killing him. Another bullet lodged in a wrought iron fence on the other side of El Cajon Blvd.

 

"Yes, it was crazy; pandemonium," the owner said.

 

The second robber escaped on foot, leaving his partner dying on the ground in front of the shop.

 

The shop owner talks about the stress, sleepless nights and the fact that the family of the dead man is going through hell, too.

 

Last Friday afternoon, dozens of the family and friends of Michael Watkins, Jr. came to the scene and were terribly upset.

 

The shop owner regrets the loss of life, but also knows what he and his clerk faced that morning.

 

"… What if we hadn't done what we did? We'd both be dead," said the owner.

 

The robbery attempt at the Old Coin Shop was the first since it opened almost 50 years ago.

 

The incident was a harrowing moment for the owner.

 

"When somebody is waving a gun in front of your face, it looks like a cannon," said the owner. "We felt we were going to die. You react based on that."

 

The gun battle left one man dying in front of the shop with the other running off down an alley.

 

"I'm absolutely convinced that we would both be dead right now and that doesn't leave you a lot of choice. We don't brandish guns, we're not out to shoot people. We're not cowboys, we're businessmen," said the owner.

 

Watkins' mother, along with dozens of other people, showed up to the shop just outside of the crime scene tape. They were visibly agitated.

 

It is an emotion shared by the men behind the counter.

 

"We're so stressed out. We haven't slept," said the owner.

 

The owner considers what kind of security will be needed if and when he reopens his store.

 

"I don't want to make a fort, because then you're locked in. You're a prisoner of your own store," said the owner.

 

 

 

 

[thehumantorch]

Sad story but I have no sympathy for gun packing crooks.

[YeahToast]

To the mother of the deceased "You failed to raise your son properly."

[physics-fan3.14]

Too bad the other one got away. Seriously.

[just-john]

camera showing who at the security door would be a good idea .If it were me 2 security doors with camera's .First to check people out second door and camera

as a holding cell for people with hoods and masks .

[PerryHall]

Too bad the other one got away. Seriously.

 

Don't be surprised if he is apprehended soon.

[MorganMan]

Just shows you what kind of folks the dead guy was raised by when they showed up mad at the owner for taking him out.

 

Typical of that class this day and time. Trying to blame anyone but the ones who are to blame.

 

I agree, too bad they did not get take out the other one too....

 

 

MM

[ant]

they spent all the money on security door ment to be a way to view and question people at door. yet buzzed these guys in.

 

i was going to a shop for a biz meeting and when i got to the door they actualy had me lift my long coat up, asked me to empty pockets, then when they knew i wasnt packing they let me in. when i got in to talk in person i showed my credentials and they said "we had to make sure".

 

its like walking into the court house!

 

and for the cost of that system i would use it like that also!

 

everyone should know life can change in a second. jewelers for sure!

[YeahToast]

From: signonsandiego.com

 

Man killed in robbery attempt had prior offenses

 

1:50 a.m. February 18, 2009

SAN DIEGO: A would-be robber who was shot and killed last week during a coin-shop heist gone wrong had a criminal record that included drug and gun offenses, court records show.

Michael Anthony Watkins Jr., 26, was convicted of felonies three times as an adult and at least once as a minor. He was ordered to spend much of his time either in jail, on probation or in drug rehabilitation, records show.

At age 19, he pleaded guilty to possessing a firearm as a felon, and later was arrested for having a loaded gun in a vehicle. In 2007, Watkins was arrested for possessing the drug PCP, as well as possessing and writing fictitious checks. He pleaded guilty to the drug charge.

It was unclear yesterday what felony Watkins had committed as a minor, because juvenile records are not considered public records.

Watkins was killed in a shootout Friday after he tried to rob an employee and shop owner at gunpoint at the Old Coin Shop in North Park, San Diego police said.

The owner told Channel 10 news in an interview yesterday that he and his employee thought they were going to be killed.

“We fired in defense of our lives,” the owner said.

Police were still searching for Watkins' accomplice. A discarded T-shirt and gun discovered nearby might help identify the person. –K.D. & M.A.

 

[jackson64]

Momma didn't raise him right and then shows up at the shop..the owners should have had her arrested too for bringing herself and the rest of her thugs down to threaten the law abiding and hard working owners...too bad he didn't get them both..woulda saved us taxpayers a few bucks..

[Schatzy]

Momma didn't raise him right and then shows up at the shop..the owners should have had her arrested too for bringing herself and the rest of her thugs down to threaten the law abiding and hard working owners...too bad he didn't get them both..woulda saved us taxpayers a few bucks..

 

Double (thumbs u (thumbs u

[DC Dawg]

camera showing who at the security door would be a good idea .If it were me 2 security doors with camera's .First to check people out second door and camera

as a holding cell for people with hoods and masks .

The concept is called a mantrap or an air gap. One door remains locked when the other door is open. The only way to enter the second door is to let the outer door close first.

 

I have seen high-end jewelry stores, the ones you have to make an appointment to see, with an air gap. A local coin shop sort of has one, but does not use it properly.

 

Given the state of the economy, I think everyone has to be more diligent in their personal and business security.

 

Scott

[Glossy]

You'd think the last place to rob was a coin shop. Don't most of them protect themselves with firearms? Just glad the owners were ok. insufficiently_thoughtful_person robbers. Hope they get the other one.

[bartlesvilleok]

You'd think the last place to rob was a coin shop. Don't most of them protect themselves with firearms? Just glad the owners were ok. insufficiently_thoughtful_person robbers. Hope they get the other one.

 

I agree, your safer to rob a bank then a coin shop. I would think these guys are not collectors.

[Schatzy]

You'd think the last place to rob was a coin shop. Don't most of them protect themselves with firearms? Just glad the owners were ok. insufficiently_thoughtful_person robbers. Hope they get the other one.

 

I agree, your safer to rob a bank then a coin shop. I would think these guys are not collectors.

 

Yeah...robbing a coin shop is simply s stupid idea!! What are you going to do with rare coins or currency!!

 

If I owned my own coin shop I would also have guns in the store!!

[MunkyMan95]

One of the local guys has a gun behind the counter (I'm sure most of them do), and he makes sure you know it. He'll shoot you.

 

Another has a door where they have to buzz you in, and I like that idea.

[World Colonial]

Just shows you what kind of folks the dead guy was raised by when they showed up mad at the owner for taking him out.

 

Typical of that class this day and time. Trying to blame anyone but the ones who are to blame.

 

I agree, too bad they did not get take out the other one too....

 

 

MM

 

It was not clear to me from the article that the family was blaming the owner but that was also my first thought. But in any event, I consider hoodlums like that scum and believe should be dealt with the way all other parasites are which is to exterminate them.

[RI AL]

Another has a door where they have to buzz you in, and I like that idea.

 

My few times visiting Teaparty Coins in Boston, I (my wife and I) had to be buzzed in. Well, I understand the reasoning for this precaution, but can't us dashing, debonaire and otherwise upstanding looking individuals also hold up a store? (And by the way, I'm better looking than EZ_E...and a hell of a lot sexier!)

 

At one of the schools where I am subbing, you have to be buzzed in. Certainly makes sense, but the button for the buzzer is in the office and the secretary can't even see who she is buzzing in. So, I guess the buzzing idea has merit...but in most cases, I expect that if someone wants to get in, they probably will if they ring the buzzer enough times.

 

RI AL

[EZ_E]

(And by the way, I'm better looking than EZ_E...and a hell of a lot sexier!)

[font:Comic Sans MS]

Let's just hope that that 14 year old cheerleader doesn't think the same thing. [/font]

 

[rrantique]

Momma didn't raise him right and then shows up at the shop..the owners should have had her arrested too for bringing herself and the rest of her thugs down to threaten the law abiding and hard working owners...too bad he didn't get them both..woulda saved us taxpayers a few bucks..

 

Double (thumbs u (thumbs u

 

[font:Arial Black] Come on in [/font]

[DC Dawg]

If I owned my own coin shop I would also have guns in the store!!

If I owned my own store, regardless of the type, I would also have a gun around.

 

Scott

[Observer44]

What really makes me mad is that criminals seem to have more rights than the victims.

[ant]

What really makes me mad is that criminals seem to have more rights than the victims.

 

i agree!

[World Colonial]

I do not have any sympathy for these people who turn to a career in crime at all.

 

I live in Phoenix, AZ where there presumably are (or were) a large number of illegal aliens (or undocumented immigrants, whatever someone wants to call them). And while I do not think they should be permitted to get in or stay, I have more respect for them that these scum because I believe that the vast majority of them at least make an honest living. Those that do not have a regular job used to perform day labor and I can tell you, that work is brutal in the heat here.

 

Then you have these people that I would describe as complete losers who have occasionally approached me and asked me for money. Its only been a few times but I have always told the men no though I have given the one woman who did so money to get home. Those guys were able bodied and if the foreign nationals can find work, so can they. The people in this instance chose to make a life out of violant crime and other illegal activity instead. Let them rot.