The family-owned business has been over 20 years in the making, but after two incidents of vandalism and a burglary left them discouraged and in debt, they found strength in the community around them.
Surveillance footage showed a man dumping more than 200 of the books onto Rudd’s carport and taking about 50 books still inside the wagon.
Police will increase their presence in the East Long Beach neighborhood near Cal State Long Beach after 11 burglaries were reported between June and December, officials said.
Following Corey James Swayney’s June 23 arrest by Long Beach police, he was charged with eight felony counts of second-degree commercial burglary involving break-ins between June 12 and June 21 at La Taqueria Brand, Waffle Love, The Breakfast Bar, Chipotle, Chen’s Chinese Restaurant, Pancho’s Vegan Tacos, Park Pantry and The Ordinaire.
During each of the incidents, police said the burglar broke through the front door to the business and stole electronics and/or cash.
A nearby coffee shop owner called Sarah Benton-Obando to say that someone shattered her glass door and burglarized her business, Lil Devils Boutique, a place where many parents buy niche merchandise for their babies and young children on Fourth Street’s Retro Row.
Three people walked into a Seal Beach T-Mobile store last week and started yanking display phones off their stands in front of two employees and a customer, authorities said Monday.
Long Beach police were trying to convince a burglary suspect to come down from the rooftops where he was evading officers in the Alamitos Beach neighborhood this morning.
The suspects allegedly stole about $5,000 worth of merchandise from a beauty store near the Los Altos Shopping Center.
Both businesses reported they would still be open for business today despite the break-ins.
