Jewelry store robber battered sales woman, still at large

A suspect, who robbed a jewelry store in Chaoyang district and seriously injured a female clerk last week, remains at large, Chaoyang police told the Global Times on Thursday.

On August 14, a man armed with an iron club went into an antique store in Yayuan International Antique City, Chaoyang district at around 4 pm and attacked a saleswoman, who has only been named as Xiaoyu. He struck Xiaoyu, who was alone at the time, with the club on her head until she fell unconscious.

The man fled with antiques, some made of jade, with an estimated value of 1 million yuan ($0.16 million), said a male store employee, surnamed Yuan on Thursday.

According to Yuan, the store's surveillance video camera had footage of the suspect's face, which was sent to police.　

The video footage showed the suspect, dressed in a black T-shirt, hitting Xiaoyu with the club at least eight times, the Beijing Times reported Thursday.　

"I heard Xiaoyu's injuries are serious, including multiple internal bleeding in the brain, but she's stable for now," said Yuan.

A media officer surnamed Zhen, from Chaoyang district police, said Thursday that so far their inquiries have not led to the arrest of the suspect.　

Chen Yun, who owns the store next door, said that she was surprised the security guards in the building did not notice the crime, as according to the video footage, the robbery lasted for 17 minutes.　

"There are three security guards at the three entrances of the building, but I seldom saw them patrolling to check up on the stores inside," said Chen.

A security guard, surnamed Xu, from the antique store building, said ever since last Thursday, they have been asked to "be more cautious" by the property managers, but no more staff or specific measures have been arranged.