Multiple businesses in L.A.’s Fairfax District have fallen victim to smash-and-grab burglaries in recent times, and now business owners are having to make tough decisions on whether they want to operate in the area.
One of the businesses most recently hit is Solestage, located at 455 North Fairfax Avenue. According to Los Angeles Police Department Officer Miller, a group of thieves used a blue Toyota Camry to smash into the storefront and steal merchandise before fleeing in a different vehicle before 5 a.m. on May 16.
The suspects were gone by the time police arrived, Officer Miller said. Solestage sells high-end streetwear and merchandise, and according to store owner Robert McClenton, that’s exactly what the thieves took.
“I went to the surveillance cameras, looked and saw the car [had been driven] in, and when I got here, the car was still there running,” McClenton said of the Friday morning burglary. “It’s crazy because I get up every morning to get here to make sure I’m available for people to come out here and see these items…it’s heartbreaking.”
Neither LAPD nor McClenton were able to elaborate on how much was taken from the store.
McClenton told KTLA that it will likely cost “tens of thousands of dollars” to repair the storefront and security gate that were damaged in the burglary and that he is still unsure of how much insurance will cover.
Another nearby store owner spoke with KTLA on Monday about the rise in burglaries. While he declined to go on camera, he provided surveillance video that shows a similar tactic being employed by the thieves who hit his establishment: using a vehicle to ram right through the storefront.
In fact, similar crimes have already happened at his store twice this year, once in February and again in April, he said. He also noted that he is aware of at least three other businesses in the area that have been targeted.
The assistant manager of another Fairfax District business – one that has not been burglarized – told KTLA that he’s “always wondering if we’re next.”
“Nobody’s really doing anything about it,” Milton Hernandez said. “[There needs to be] more security and more patrolling.”
In the meantime, most businesses appear to be staying open, except for Solestage; owner McClenton says he is moving his entire inventory out of the store because he is forced to shut down for the next couple of weeks, meaning that on top of all the products lost, he is also losing business.
The post Fairfax District business owners saddened, on edge and forced to close after burglary uptick appeared first on KTLA.
