EXCLUSIVE VIDEO: Suspect orders victim to drive him to attempted Madera jewelry store robbery

MADERA, Calif. (KFSN) -- A Madera man is now behind bars after a bizarre carjacking in broad daylight on Sunday.

Madera Police say the victim was parked on a quiet street behind the Lowe's on Dutra Way when he was approached by 31-year-old Eduardo Cruz-Cortes.

Cruz-Cortes flashed a gun and ordered the victim into the backseat, then forced the victim to drive less than half a mile down the road to Olivia's Fine Jewelry.

He was then ordered to hold the door while Cruz-Cortes went inside to rob the business.

But that plan was quickly abandoned.

"The victim got out of the car, walked towards the front of the business...that's when the suspect drove the vehicle out of the parking lot and fled," said Madera Police Sgt. Richard Gonzalez.

Exclusive video obtained by Action News shows the victim holding the door, then turning back for more instructions from Cruz-Cortes before he sped off.

Cruz-Cortes would return to Olivia's just days later, on Feb. 25, with the same mask and the same stolen car.

A different video shows the man in the parking lot, sitting in the driver's seat of a blue sedan equipped with a black hat, mask and gloves.

"We saw the cameras that day, and we saw a car parked in reverse, the car had the same description as the car from Sunday," said co-owner Armia Meras.

Once employees recognized the man, they quickly called Madera Police, telling Action News that in recent months they've developed a good eye for the unusual.

In November, another brazen robbery attempt at Olivia's ended in a dramatic showdown, with the owner throwing one of the masked robbers over the counter before firing gunshots at the others.

"The other occasion, there was five suspects who broke in, and we have been uneasy since then, and I mean, my whole family was here," Meras said.

Madera Police took Cruz-Cortes into custody without incident on Wednesday, finding a loaded handgun and a mask inside the stolen car.

Police do not believe Cruz-Cortes is connected to the group involved in the November incident.