Cops: 3 rob Huntington Station jewel shop

Suffolk County Police are looking for three men who hit, threatened and tied up a Huntington Station woman as they robbed her family's jewelry store Tuesday afternoon.

The robbery of A&D Jewelry and Stuff at 1480-A New York Ave., occurred around 4:30 p.m., police said.

Duvilia Argueta, who owns the store with her husband, Argelio Rivas, said Wednesday a hooded man approached the shop's door, his face painted black to conceal his identity.

The man pushed his way in and threw Argueta, 48, on the floor and let in two other men who also concealed their faces, she said.

One of the men hit her on the side of the face with a gun, Argueta told police. In recounting the event Wednesday, she said after being hit, she turned around to look at the men and they had two guns pointed at her head. They said they would kill her husband and children if she didn't give them the key to the safe, she said.

"I told them, 'Please, please, don't kill me. Take whatever you want, but don't kill me,' " Argueta said. "I was afraid they were going to take my life."

The men tied her hands and feet and covered her mouth with duct tape. Argueta freed herself after they left.

Police are reviewing images from the store's security camera, said Suffolk Police Det. Sgt. Richard Auspaker, a supervisor at the Huntington precinct's Second Squad.

"It's a good video," Auspaker said. "It's a clear video."

The store sold gold, silver and diamond-studded jewels, often through layaway plans, as well as assorted clothing. The men took cash and jewelry, including merchandise set aside for layaway customers, the store owners said.

"They ruined us and we are going to close the store," said Rivas, 45, who also works as a school bus driver for the Huntington Coach company that serves school districts in the Huntington area. "But all I care is that she's alive."