A Belmont Heights pet store manager thinks his store has been targeted twice by the same burglar over the last few months, and he’s offering a $1,000 reward to try to keep it from happening again.
In the most recent burglary at around 2:53 a.m. Wednesday, someone wearing a camouflage hoodie and a facial covering shattered the front door of Pet Partners #2 on East Broadway near Redondo Avenue, said Edwin Jara, the store’s manager.
The burglar only spent a few minutes inside before leaving empty-handed, but the break-in will cost Jara thousands to replace the glass door and window, he said.
For Pet Partners, a locally owned business with one other location in Alamitos Beach, that’s a major expense, Jara said. The second location opened just over a year ago and had been seeing a slow increase in sales before the June 14 break-in.
Officers came to the store after each burglary and got security camera footage from Jara, but he said he’s frustrated he hasn’t heard anything since.
Both break-ins have been assigned to a burglary detective, Long Beach police spokesperson Andres Bonilla wrote in an email. He declined to provide any further information on the investigation.
Jara is hoping to gather enough evidence for police to arrest who he believes is the same person carrying out both burglaries.
Each time, the person was wearing a similar outfit while covering their face. Both times, surveillance camera footage showed them fleeing on a Lime rental bike or scooter, Jara said.
“Everything is so similar, and they went straight for where the cash was at before,” Jara said.
The burglar was clearly familiar with the store, having quickly found and shut off the Wi-Fi during the first break-in, Jara said.
During the June 14 break-in, the burglar had long hair and was wearing a black zip-up hoodie with an image of Jason Voorhees from “Friday the 13th” on the back, blue jeans, Jordan sneakers and a black backpack.
For the latest break-in, the burglar wore a camouflage zip-up hoodie, blue jeans, a facial covering and a black backpack.
Jara is asking anyone with information to message the store’s Instagram page or call the store directly at 562-342-4114.
In the meantime, he’s looking into buying roll-down security bars.
“I think that’s our best bet for security,” Jara said.