San Jose smoke shop owner shot, nearly killed in robbery over Rolex watch

SAN JOSE, Calif. (KGO) -- A South Bay business owner is recovering after a violent store robbery and is now determined to get justice.

Jai Patel, owner of neighboring businesses, Dab Society Glass Gallery & Smoke Shop and CBD Farmacy, was shot by masked robbers inside his San Jose business.

His injuries were potentially life-threatening.

"I have about roughly 80 stitches on my body currently and broken bones of course," Patel said from his hospital bed, "My artery was - the main artery was shot at so, I lost a lot of blood, about 35 pints of blood."

Patel said it happened around two in the afternoon on July 6.

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A man who made him uneasy came into the store.

"He had seen the watch, the Rolex on my wrist," Patel said.

Based off the build and clothing, Patel believes that same person was one of the masked robbers who came to the store just a couple of hours later.

"They said, 'Let me get your Rolex', and I had long sleeves on that day, so my watch was covered, I looked down, I'm like, 'How do they know I have a Rolex on?'" Patel said.

It was just seconds after that a gun was pulled out.

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"The gun was about three feet away from me. So, I pushed the gun away and I have a full metal door where my office is in the back room. So, I tried to run to the metal door and shut the door," Patel said, "Within that time frame, he ended up actually just shooting me on the side of my hip."

In a shop that Patel said has glass worth thousands of dollars, those suspects got away in a waiting vehicle with the watch.

Smoke shops have been a target in San Jose.

Just over a year ago, San Jose police made an arrest in connection to burglaries at more than 10 smoke shops.

The suspects taking stolen cars and crashing them through the windows to break in.

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San Jose police tell us that the investigation into what happened at Patel's shop is still ongoing and detectives are still following up on leads.

Patel is hopeful someone will come forward with information.

"I want these guys caught, and I'm very concerned about all the neighboring businesses around me, or any other smoke shop that does exist," he said.

Back at the store, Patel and his manager have already made changes.

"We started to immediately box off the area more, make it more secure, make it visible to people outside what's happening inside," Manager Usman Ahmed said.

While Patel is still on the mend, he has at least a six-month recovery ahead of him including physical therapy.