A mother and son are facing charges in connection with a violent armed robbery of a Hialeah nail salon employee last month.
Julian Flores, 24, and his mother, 55-year-old Lourdes Diaz, were arrested this week on charges of armed robbery, arrest reports said.
Yunet Sanchez was covered in bruises behind her ear, on her cheek and hand, and had an open wound on the back of her head after being beaten and robbed outside of her nail salon last month.
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The incident happened back on Sept. 16 outside Champagne Nails at 7751 W. 28th Avenue, where jewelry is also sold.
According to the arrest reports, the victim was leaving the business pulling luggage containing a large amount of gold jewelry when she was approached by a man, later identified as Flores, who was wearing all black and a facemask and was holding a gun.
He forcefully started pulling on the handle of the luggage demanding the victim let go while hitting her hands with the gun, but when she wouldn't let go, he pistol-whipped her multiple times in the mouth and back of her head, the reports said.
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At one point he also fired a round, causing her to let go of the luggage, the reports said.
“When he fired the gun, I was terrified,” Sanchez said. “I thought to myself, ‘he’s going to kill me.’”
Surveillance footage showed the suspect running to a getaway car, which was being driven by Diaz, and fleeing the scene, police said.
"He waited for her to come outside of the business and then attacked her, hitting her with his firearm, threatening her with her life. Initially taking all of the jewelry with him in a getaway car that was driven by the mother," Hialeah Police spokesperson Scarlett Hernandez said.
Sanchez describes fighting for her life.
“He tried to take away my bag,” Sanchez said. “I noticed he was trying to rob me. I started to pull back and then he started to hit me very hard with a weapon. He hit me so hard, he cut my head in two places. They had to give me stitches.”
Police said the luggage contained around 1,300 pieces of jewelry worth over $800,000.
The victim had to be treated for her injuries at a local hospital.
The reports said surveillance video showed the suspects' vehicle waiting in the parking lot outside the salon when the victim arrived that morning.
From the video, detectives noticed a white sticker on the car's window that revealed it belonged to Enterprise Rental, and found out through Enterprise that Diaz had rented the car, the reports said.
The victim identified Diaz as a frequent customer of the salon who'd shown interest in purchasing jewelry but had never completed a purchase, the reports said.
For the last month, Yunet says Diaz started coming into the shop three times a week to get services but also to look at the jewelry.
“She would get all the services,” Sanchez said. “Whatever we have, she would do it — nails, hair, eyebrows, massage, everything.”
Police said about a week after the robbery, Diaz even called the victim pretending to be concerned and saying she'd heard what happened to her.
Detectives later discovered that after the robbery, Flores posted a photo of him on Instagram holding a gun and wearing a distinct gold ring that had been taken during the crime, the reports said.
And when Diaz was detained during a traffic stop, officers found she had two baggies containing gold necklaces that were consistent with the stolen jewelry, the reports said.
Flores and Diaz were arrested and booked into jail. They were denied bond during court appearances.
