A grandmother in her 60’s who works as a street vendor was robbed, and despite her fear of it happening again, she has to return to set up shop in order to make a living.
Teresa Cruz sets up shop every day in Lincoln Heights.
"She comes every day any time she can until 5 or 6 p.m. She is here at 8 in the morning and at her age still trying to do this it is a lot," said Emily Jacobo, her granddaughter.
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Jacobo says she works hard, lugging her products, including gold-plated rings, necklaces, and bracelets, down to her spot.
"Street vending has been running in my family for quite a while. My grandma has been a vendor for a decade," Jacobo said.
But on Sunday at 10:20 a.m., Jacobo says a man stopped by Cruz's setup in the 3000 block of North Broadway to ask the prices of her jewelry, only to return the next day to rob her.
"Her rack has $600 of jewelry. It is an enormous loss for my grandma," Jacobo said.
The man ran away, and sadly, Cruz was not able to stop him. She's struggling to work and worried it might happen again.
“I feel very bad. I feel very sad," Cruz said.
The community is rallying around her. Some men stopped by after hearing about the theft and showed her how to use pepper spray to help her prevent it from happening again.
Her granddaughter says it was important for her grandmother to show up for work despite the frightening robbery, not only because she has to make a living but because she wants to raise awareness too.
"We are trying to show just because of that robbery we are not going to back down," she said.
The family filed a police report, and they have set up a GoFundMe titled "Protect Your Street Vendors."
