Sixth Armed Robbery for Mission Viejo Jeweler

Editor's note: Until the end of 2011, Patch will be republishing some of the year's biggest news stories in Mission Viejo.

"I decided to move to Mission Viejo, the safest city in the world."

Those are the words of Farid Saatchi --the sixth armed robbery of his career, but his first in 10 years doing business in Orange County.

Saatchi started selling jewelry in New York. He was held up five times and shot once in the belly--and he has the scar to prove it (see photo above).

"I'm thankful to be alive after five armed robberies," he said.

But Saatchi is disgusted three men could strongarm his friend and business partner, stab him, slash his tire and speed off.

"They come, in five, ten minutes they make 100s of thousands of dollars," the store owner said. "I'd have to work another lifetime to make up for it."

On Tuesday, bandits made off with $50,000 worth of valuables, including a Rolex, diamonds and four rare coins. None of it was insured, Saatchi said.

Immediately after the robbery, Saatchi's friend returned to the store to call police. He was bleeding from stab wounds, the store owner said.

They stabbed Saatchi's friend in the left arm. The victim is OK, Saatchi said--he called from Saddleback Hospital to say he was going to be all right.

Saatchi's first instinct was to take his handgun and search the area for the robbers. But they were gone before he found them.

The friend may have been followed, Orange County Sheriff's Department spokesman Jim Amormino said.

"We believe he was followed and targeted," he said.

There was one eye-witness, Amormino said.

This crime is similar to one that happened June 17 in Tustin. During that robbery, three men smashed another man's window and stabbed him under the chin. Those men are also thought to be responsible for an earlier jewelry robbery in Irvine.

Suspect Description

Here's how police describe the suspects:

• Three men wearing hooded sweatshirts
• A white man in his late 20s stabbed the jewelry courier. He's about 5'6".
• A black man in his late 20s smashed the courier's passenger window and snatched the bag of valuables. He's about 5'6".
• Another white man was driving a silver sedan, possibly a Jaguar.