This story was written earlier from the police recap and a short interview with Officer Shyy, but has been corrected and updated at 4:44 p.m. after interviewing the victims.
When the three men walked into her corner laundry at 25th and Florida streets Tuesday at 4 p.m., 61-year-old Mary was confused.
The three had pulled their shirts up over their mouths, she said through an interpreter, demonstrating the way in which the men covered half their faces with their shirts.
Mary, who spoke Cantonese through an interpreter, said she was standing in the front of the shop near the ironing station and wondered why the men would get their clothes laundered.
Then, she understood. One of the men placed a gun on the counter in front of her. She ran.
Her 67-year-old sister, Julie, was in the back and they both escaped through the back door.
A neighbor on Florida Street, Juliet Rios, said that she saw them on the street looking confused and called 911.
Officer Gordon Shyy said that when the women returned to the store they found that the suspects had gone through the shelves and taken an undisclosed amount of money from the cash register.
The sisters said today that they did not keep much cash in the register. Julie said that they have been robbed in the past so they have learned.
Still, the women were shaken by Tuesday afternoon’s incident and when a neighbor, Bobby, came by he suggested that they get a special door and buzz in clients.
Bobby, who also declined to give his last name, said he saw the suspects sitting in a car on 25th Street. “They gave out a real mean look,” he said.
Police believe the suspects were driving a black four-wheel drive vehicle.
4pm! WTF. We need more police presence to bust these losers.