Residents are on edge after a string of destructive burglaries continues targeting Long Beach businesses.
Surveillance video captured the moment a hooded suspect smashed their way into a restaurant and escaped with the cash register.
The break-in occurred on Sept. 30 at Speak Cheezy pizzeria in the Belmont Heights neighborhood just after midnight.
The owner, Jason Winters, believes the brazen theft was premeditated.
“It was very quick,” Winters said. “He didn’t go any deeper than the register. He knew exactly what he was going for.”
Winters said luckily the cash register was empty, but the costs to repair the destruction left behind will be expensive.
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The suspect yanks the cash register off the counter at Speak Cheezy in Long Beach on Sept. 30, 2024. (Speak Cheesy) -
The hooded suspect seen walking towards Speak Cheesy on Sept. 30, 2024. (Speak Cheesy) -
In January 2023, Speak Cheesy was burglarized by a hooded suspect with a crowbar. (Speak Cheesy) -
Next door, the Ambiance Skin Care & Day Spa remains boarded up after burglars targeted the business twice in a six-week period. (KTLA) -
A burglar smashes his way in to Speak Cheezy in Long Beach and escapes with the cash register on Sept. 30, 2024. (Speak Cheesy) -
The suspects escapes with the cash register at Speak Cheezy in Long Beach on Sept. 30, 2024. (Speak Cheesy)
“We are probably talking $1,500 to $2,000 in damages for the door, cash register, point of sale system,” he said.
Winters also noted the recent burglary wasn’t the first time his pizzeria was targeted.
In January 2023, another suspect broke in using a crowbar and escaped with the restaurant’s safe from the basement, resulting in a $5,000 loss.
Winters said the uptick in destructive burglaries is hard on small business owners and even worse, it seems to be affecting more shop owners nowadays.
“It’s disheartening, like the fact that this isn’t just [affecting] me,” Winters said.
The shop next door, Ambiance Skin Care & Day Spa, was burglarized twice in a six-week period and is still recovering from the destruction left behind.
Local business owners are frustrated with the ongoing crime while also worried their store may be targeted next.
Many said they would like to see harsher penalties for smash-and-grab burglaries, hoping stricter consequences will deter thieves before a future confrontation turns violent or even deadly.
“More repercussions for people who are doing this, if they did get caught,” Winters said. “He took off on a bike and there was probably a getaway car. He knew exactly what he was doing.”
The suspect remains at large. Anyone with information on the case is asked to call the Long Beach Police Department at 562-570-7260.