Brazen Bev Hills heist
Violent $500K rob
Armed robbers pulled off a brazen heist outside a Beverly Hills, Calif., eatery that netted a $500,000 watch and left an innocent bystander shot — a terrifying ordeal the robbery target recalled to The Post on Friday.
Jewelry dealer Shay Belhassen said he was sitting with a client at celebrity hot spot Il Pastaio Thursday afternoon when three suspects came up behind him and made their move to swipe his $500,000 Richard Mille timepiece.
“One of them was choking me from the back with a gun to my head, while the other one was grabbing my arm, and the third one was yanking the watch off my hand,” Belhassen said — referring to his RM 11-03 rose gold Flyback Chronograph, a favorite of celebs such as Kanye West and Kevin Hart and tennis ace Rafael Nadal.
“I took a chance and grabbed the gun and wrestled them to the ground. They were trying to pull the trigger,” he said.
Four shots rang out during the struggle, with one of the slugs striking the leg of a woman sitting at the restaurant with her boyfriend, Belhassen said.
“I believe one of [the robbers] got shot while they were struggling with me on the ground,” the jeweler said. “The eyewitnesses were saying he ran while holding his stomach. I know while we were fighting on the ground, a couple of bullets shot. I believe one of them hit him.”
The robbery victim said he was happy to escape the robbery with his life.
“They were coming to shoot. They didn’t come to play around. There was zero fear in their eyes,” he said.
The injured woman was treated at a local hospital for non-life-threatening injuries, the Los Angeles Times reported.
The watch targeted by the crooks touts such features as a central flange in top-grade titanium, 18karat white-gold wings and ceramic ball bearings. It has a case sealed by two nitrile O-rings that make it water-resistant up to 160 feet.
Additional reporting by Yaron Steinbuch and Kenneth Garger