MANILA - A man found himself in the middle of a heist - and held hostage for several minutes - when an estimated 11 gunmen hit a high-end watch store in a Makati City mall on Sunday.

"Raymond" was with his wife and their baby at the Rolex store in Greenbelt 5 in Makati, when 4 armed men entered the store at around noon.

He said he first thought the men, who were wearing shirts with the words "Bomb Squad" printed on them, were there to pick up money to be brought to an armored van for delivery to a bank.

However, it turned out, the men were there to rob the store.

"Medyo malaki ang pangagatawan, wearing black shirts, nakalagay 'bomb squad.' Ang akala ko tauhan ng armored van [na] pi-pick up ng pera. After a few seconds, binasag nila, using [a] martilyo, iyong display ng watches," he said.

While the armed men were smashing display cases, Raymond said he was able to lead his wife and child out of the store.

"Me, my wife at iyong baby ko. Iyon papasok na iyong mga armed men, sabi ko sa wife ko, mauna na kayo, kasi ayaw nga palabasin noong isang hold-upper. Sabi ko sa wife ko, you leave first, bahala na ako dito, di naman sila sinaktan, ako lang talaga grinab nila," he recounted.

He, however, was prevented from leaving by one of the armed suspects, and was held briefly by the suspects.

"Mga five minutes, naka-grab siya sa right shoulder ko, and then habang lumalaban ako, sabi niya sa akin, 'mamaya, mamaya,'" he said.

Raymond then asked the robber to let him go.

"Habang naka-grab siya sa akin, sabi ko, 'Boss, customer lang ako dito, siguro hindi naman ako kasama sa gulo na 'to. Isa pa, may sarili akong pamilya. Sigurado ko, may sarili ka ring pamilya. Kaya sana maintindihan mo sana ako,'" he narrated.

The man holding him then reportedly looked at one of his cohorts outside the store, who then signaled to let Raymond out.

He then went out of the store to rejoin his wife and their baby and to join their other children who were at a restaurant at the mall's second floor.

The robbers did not take anything from Raymond, and he and his family were able to leave the mall premises safely.

The incident however led Raymond to criticize the security at the posh mall.

"Pag shoplifter hindi mo talaga malalaman, this kind of people na nakapasok biglaan lang, hindi mo man lang sinita, hindi napansin o pinigilan, Very disappointing talaga, pano kung may iba pang taong nadamay," he said.

He said he and his family were traumatized by the incident. With a report from Willard Cheng, ABS-CBN News