A popular camera store in the San Francisco Bay Area has suffered a violent break-in after robbers rammed a car through the shop front.
Looking Glass Photo in Berkeley suffered significant damage to the building and at least $50,000 worth of merchandise was stolen, according to Jen Waicukauski, the store’s owner.
Waicukauski tells Berkeleyside that she received an alert about the robbery on her phone in the early hours of Sunday morning. Logging into the app to check the live security footage, she spotted three figures inside her shop. She shouted at them through the app, and they left soon after.
Waicukauski says Berkley police arrived in under 10 minutes; the robbers were inside for just a few minutes but it was enough time to get away with thousands of dollars worth of equipment. Upon reviewing the footage, Waicukauski witnessed the vehicle ramming into the front of the store multiple times. “On the fourth hit they were able to gain entry,” she tells Berkeleyside.
She arrived at the store an hour later to survey the damage which she describes as “like a bomb had gone off.”
On the advice of friends and family, Waicukauski set up a GoFundMe page in which she explains that “while insurance will cover some of the losses, it won’t be enough to rebuild our storefront or cover the full cost of what’s been taken. This puts the future of Looking Glass in jeopardy.”
The storefront and entrance need restoring and all the displays and fixtures inside need replacing. Additionally, Waicukauski says she wants to install a roll-up security door for added protection.
“On top of these expenses, we’re navigating another difficult period of disrupted business, just as we were regaining stability after our move to this new space,” she adds.
Berkeleyside reports that the store remains open to customers; though they have to enter through a side door. Local resident Michelle Wolfson tells the local news outlet that Looking Glass is a “treasured part of the community.”
“Every time we come in, they help us out and share their joy of photography with beginners,” she says. “Looking Glass staff are amazingly kind and patient and always help me and my family out as we learn photography. Since they are a small business we buy film there instead of online, so we can get personal support. We are very worried this will hurt them so much they will go out of business.”
Sadly, camera stores are a target for crooks with Waicukauski likening it to Apple Stores where “people rush in and grab things.” Just last month, PetaPixel reported on an elderly camera store owner in Florida who fought back against two robbers as they stole $6,000 worth of camera gear.
Image credits: Looking Glass Photo/GoFundMe
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