A group of up to 20 people -- believed to be teens -- assaulted a worker while robbing a Center City Philadelphia store Tuesday night.
The incident happened just before 6 p.m. at Gallery of Scents & the Gold Center along Chestnut Street, near 11th Street, Philadelphia police said.
About 18 to 20 juveniles entered the store and jumped behind the counter where they took about $500 of tobacco products and other merchandise, police said.
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One of the young people punched a worker who tried to stop the robbery, investigators said. It wasn't clear if the worker suffered injuries.
No arrests were made and police didn't describe any of the suspects or reveal any surveillance video of the thefts or attack.
Center City Business owners are worried and on alert.
"If you see a bunch of young kids -- about 10 to 12 of them -- knocking on your door that don't mean they're coming to shop," Dio Garcia, who owns a nearby store, told NBC10. He noted the recent closure of a Wawa and other stores in the area after being hit by young robbers and vandals.
"Instead of people moving in, they're moving out," Garcia said.
This is the latest downtown attack by a group of what appears to be young people. The group robbery came on the same day as Philadelphia police released surveillance video and images of a eight people they say were involved with an attack on a woman just blocks away at 15th and Chestnut streets. That February attack left a woman unconscious.
Correction (March 8, 2023, 10:55 a.m.): An early version of this story indicated the store was ransacked, however, Philadelphia police later said that a robbery and assault happened and didn't list any extensive damage to the property.
