LAS VEGAS (KLAS) – A small business owner is speaking out after a spiritual shop was robbed, but he tells 8 News Now the thief returned and tried to break in again.
“We're always trying to keep our heads above water,” Debbie Beach said. “But it's a pretty scary feeling.”
Veach told 8 News Now he's still shaken up by the recent robbery at his store.
“It’s a sense of loss, a violation,” she explained. “It's so many different things, and it's not just financial.”
She said her store, Enchanted Forest Reiki Center, near Sahara Avenue and Jones Boulevard, was broken into Wednesday night.
The thief was caught on surveillance camera before Vici told 8 News Now he stole thousands of dollars worth of merchandise.
“They brought back valuable items,” she said. “They have featured some of the best work I have collected in my 13 years in the business.”
Valuable crystals were also stolen. She said that because they are handmade and one-of-a-kind, the situation is difficult both financially and emotionally.
“People's comments are, 'Don't you have insurance?'” she says. “Of course we have insurance, but there are still huge losses.”
To make matters worse, she said, surveillance video showed that the same man tried to break in again the next night but was unable to get inside.
“Do you sit there and think someone might come back and do the same thing to me again?” Veach said.
She has since filed a report with the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department and had the camera system upgraded, but told 8 News Now that sharing her story is primarily about calling for change.
“This is about all of us communicating with each other,” she said. “It's unacceptable for small business owners to do this.”
She also said she wants to prevent something like this from happening to anyone else.
Veach said the suspect used what appeared to be a truck stolen from a nearby store to carry out the robbery.
She told 8 News Now that both the break-in and attempted break-in happened around 4 a.m.
Anyone with information is asked to contact LVMPD anonymously at 702-828-3111 or Crime Stoppers at 702-385-5555.
