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Burglar smashes window at LA pet store
A burglar smashed through the front window of The Urban Pet in the Fairfax District and stole a safe, cash and the store’s credit card terminal.
LOS ANGELES - A burglar smashed through the front window of a longtime Fairfax District pet store, making off with a safe, cash and the shop's credit card terminal.
Surveillance video shows the break-in at The Urban Pet on Beverly Boulevard happened at about 4:18 a.m. Saturday. The burglar, wearing a hoodie and a backpack, used the flashlight on a phone to navigate the store.
The window has since been boarded up.
One of the store’s managers, Taylor Jacobs, said one of the first things to disappear was the credit card terminal near the front counter.
"They took our credit card terminal," Jacobs said. "It seems not to have been damaged too much, just a light disconnect. Why they'd take that, I don't know."
What the burglar ignored stood out just as much.
"They walked right past our registers and our cash box that we put upstairs every night," Jacobs said.
On the second floor, the burglar went directly to the store's safes, emptying cash from one and carrying out the other. The owner believes the suspect knew exactly where to go, even disconnecting the surveillance system.
For Jacobs, the aftermath is about more than what was taken.
"We don't have a window. That's a little inconvenient. It's more like the stress," Jacobs said. "We can deal with tiny things missing. Even the cash is not going to destroy the business, but we want to feel safe."
Larry Clarke, a longtime customer, said break-ins are out of character for the neighborhood.
"There is hardly any crime here usually. Up on Melrose, if you go up there, we've had some problems, but usually around Beverly? This is really a strange crime," Clarke said.
He was left puzzled by the target itself.
"Look at this, to rob a pet store, demolish this entire window," Clarke said. "I mean, come on, how much money is there in a pet store? That's a bizarre robbery."
Clarke also had a message for the burglar.
"You're an idiot. What are you doing?" he said. "There are better ways of making a few thousand dollars."
The Los Angeles Police Department is expected to return to the store to dust for fingerprints and process the scene.