NEW YORK (WCBS) – The New York City Police Department is searching for a group of men who robbed a popular social media influencer known for selling luxury watches.
“I open the car and I turn around and the guy just pointed the gun,” Moshe Haimoff remembered. “My brain just said, ‘It’s happening. There we go.’”
Haimoff recounts the terrifying ambush that unfolded outside his Queens home last week.
The 39-year-old jeweler, better known to his 1.6 million followers on Instagram as The Watch King, was getting into his car Wednesday at around 10 a.m. when he was approached by a masked man donning a construction vest and armed with a stun gun.
The encounter was captured by surveillance cameras.
“He shoots the gun at me, my leg, my right leg, and one. The second bolt missed, hit my belt,” Haimoff said.
It was at that moment when Haimoff says he made a run for it, but was then tackled by the suspect on his lawn. That’s when a second man appeared and pinned him down.
“Within 30 seconds, they took my watch. They took the chain off my neck,” Haimoff said. “Now, my chain has a logo that says ‘Watch King,’ the logo they threw back at me.”
It’s that logo that is part of the brand that has made Haimoff popular online as a sought-after luxury watch dealer with a shop in the Diamond District.
The suspects, police say, got away in a waiting vehicle driven by a third accomplice.
While he lost more than $550,000 in jewelry, Haimoff walked away with minor injuries.
“God gave me a second chance at life and I’m grateful,” Haimoff said. “It could have been worse, could have been way worse.”
As police continue to search for the suspects in the disturbing robbery, Haimoff says he believes he was set up by someone he knows.
“I believe I was targeted. I want to know who set me up because my neighbor left the house two minutes before me and they didn’t touch him,” Haimoff added.
While no arrests have been made, Haimoff has hired around-the-clock security. He says, despite the traumatic event, he’s going to continue to do what he loves.
“I’m just going to go stronger and better. I’m going to keep on putting content. I’m going to talk about what I do and keep going.” Haimoff said.
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