One Houston area business owner and her team are facing the aftermath of a terrifying robbery caught on surveillance video.
Two armed masked men entered the Exquisite Hair Junkies shop on Fondren Road Friday afternoon around 2 p.m. and robbed the store of its inventory, even stealing an employee’s car.
A 1-year-old baby was also said to have been inside the store when it happened.
Now the owner is speaking out to warn others.
Jasmine Harris’ passion and tastes are apparent when you walk into her shop. Six years ago, Harris said she had a vision.
“A hair store that people can come to be served by women,” Harris said. “Where people can get a homely experience and make sure that you feel beautiful when you leave.”
However, this incident was terrifying for all involved.
Two masked men carrying guns walked in the store. Surveillance video captures the heart-stopping moments when the two men threatened the two employees who were working at the time.
One of the employee’s 1-year-old babies, who is also Harris’ Godchild, was inside.
“They were holding my employees at gunpoint,” the owner said.
In the video, the men appear to force an employee to the inventory shelves where before forcing her to help him take the inventory.
“I have a hair store. I sell hair, bundles, wigs, frontals, closures,” Harris said. “I sell raw hair, I got wigs, full lace wigs, very, very hard-to-get wigs. At this time, they’re very hard to get. They take a long time to come in.”
She says the robbers took $300,000 worth of inventory, clearing out nearly all the shelves.
The robbers even learned of the employee’s baby and was heard on surveillance video using the information to intimidate the employees.
“Who’s watching the camera? No lie. Ya’ll got a baby in here,” one masked gunman said.
The robber was heard moments later after a phone inside the store rang, saying to the employee, “Don’t do that with your baby in here.”
“I’m trying. I’m trying. I’m sorry, I’m nervous,” the same employee said to the gunman in the surveillance video.
Harris, who was outside the store in a different location, watched on surveillance, called police and described what was happening.
“I was able to tell police, ‘Okay, well he’s doing this, and they’re doing that,’” Harris said.
The gunman were seen taking the inventory into the other employee’s older blue Honda Accord, which was parked right outside the business. The thieves then took off.
Luckily, the two employees and the baby were not injured. Harris said she was most concerned about their safety and said that their team had trained for this kind of occurrence.
“I’m very, very proud of them,” Harris said.
Harris said the store would have to close for a week to give her time to build up the inventory again.
She said she has worked very hard to build this business for herself, her employees, and for the community. She hopes the two men are caught.
“I don’t come from a wealthy family. Everything here, I’ve purchased on my own,” Harris said. “I have built this business and brand to be what it is here in Houston and to have someone come in, in broad daylight, with no regard to human life or feelings and just take everything that I’ve worked hard for, it’s kind of messed up.”
She said she is sharing her story to help others.
“I just want to make sure that this doesn’t happen to anyone else. I want to make sure businesses know this is happening around here,” Harris said.
Harris and her team have set up a GoFundMe Page to help with replacing the inventory.