Caught on tape: Surveillance video shows robber's attack on San Diego store owner

LA MESA, CA - Surveillance video obtained by 10News in San Diego showed how a violent attack at a La Mesa liquor store Monday evening unfolded.

In the video taken inside Sierra Market on Massachusetts Ave., the robber, who's wearing a hooded sweatshirt and blond wig, starts to hit the 70-year-old owner over the head with a gun.

However, the owner refused to be taken down without a fight.

On Tuesday, the owner's son watched the surveillance video with 10News and explained what happened when the robber got behind the counter.

"He's taking the money and he's hitting him like this," said the son. "At that point, that's when my dad grabbed a bottle and smacked him with it … just so the guy backs off and that's when my dad got the upper hand and try to fight back a little bit."

The video then shows the robber dropping his gun on the floor, but the struggle then spilled out into an aisle filled with wine and champagne bottles.

"You know, you see a bottle 'this' big, it's not going to break," the son told 10News. "My dad is bald, he doesn't have hair. So imagine him getting struck by it, you know."

Moments later, the owner chased the robber out of the store until he jumped into a light blue minivan with a getaway driver.

"We're just glad he's OK because this could have turned much uglier, much worse," the son added.

Outside the store Monday night, the owner had visible injuries. He sat outside the store while his wounds were treated by paramedics just minutes after he was attacked.

In a picture on the son's cellphone, the owner has a gash on the back, left side of his head. The injury required 14 stitches.

"Until now, we have not tallied up how much money he stole, that's because it is not our priority at this time," the son added. "Our father's safety and health is our concern."

He also told 10News that their family's market will be closed for at least the next day or two while his father recovers.