Police are searching for two armed men who were caught on surveillance video as they broke into an SUV behind a Medley cafeteria and the owner spotted them and ran them off. 

Pablo Margolles, 62, the owner of Super Cafeteria, said after a busy lunch rush at his cash-only restaurant, he cleaned out the register and put a bag full of cash in the back of his car to take it to the bank, then stepped back inside the restaurant. 

Photos: Surveillance images

While Margolles was inside, surveillance video shows a black Ford Expedition rolling up. In the video, the driver can be seen pulling a gun from the dashboard, and then the passenger jumps out and uses a hammer to puncture the tire on Margolles’ vehicle and break the rear window. 

Margolles emerged from the store, appeared to take a swing at the would-be thief and then chased him down. 

Margolles said he was not scared, but his granddaughter, Eileen Diaz, said she was, especially after learning the driver had a gun. 

"While I was watching that, I had cold chills on my spine. He ran right into danger," Diaz said.


Margolles said he believes the men were casing the restaurant. 

The would-be thieves escaped empty-handed, which might explain why Margolles seemed to be in good spirits, even after listening to a lecture from his granddaughter. 

"I told him, 'Watch this video. Look at yourself,'" Diaz said. "The money is replaceable. My grandfather isn’t."

Anyone with information is asked to call police.