RENTON, Wash. — "Smashed my cases, smashed my computers, smashed the window, smashed the TV,” said Paige Anderson.
Anderson ran down the list of destroyed items to eCig n’ Vape customer Elissa Pryor after she asked why the front door to the store was boarded up.
"It wasn't just a smash and grab, it was a smash and grab and then destroy everything," said Anderson.
The vape shop was the victim of back-to-back burglaries Thursday.
A surveillance camera inside the store on Rainier Avenue South captured three men in dark hooded sweatshirts smashing the front window with a cinder block at about 1 a.m.
Surveillance video captured two sets burglars breaking into a vape shop in Renton last week. >> http://kiro.tv/VapeShopBurglarsMaria Guerrero reports on the story on #KIRO7 after The Grammys.
Posted by KIRO 7 News on Monday, February 15, 2016
They broke display cases, grabbed electronic-cigarette accessories and e-cig juices.
A fourth burglar came inside and the group ran out.
A short time later, two men with yellow and orange jackets on bicycles noticed the large hole in the window and they too burglarized the shop.
In all, the burglaries cost the store about $20,000 in damage and stolen products.
"Why would people go after a small business? It's just ... it doesn't make any sense," said Pryor.
The first burglars hauled away a safe Anderson says weighs about 700 pounds.
There was money inside but the thieves didn’t get far with it.
Anderson said they found it in some shrubs nearby.
Although the shelves are stocked again and a security alarm is being installed, the store manager is angry.
She’s angry because the crooks nearly cost her livelihood.
“This is what gets me and my daughter through everything and all my hard work was completely disregarded and destroyed," said Anderson. “I hope they catch them.”
The shop is asking people to be on the lookout for the store’s e-cig juice products, especially if someone is selling them in bulk.
Although the video does not clearly identify any of the burglars, Anderson and other management believe the crooks are very young – possibly teens.
The store has alerted area schools.
Cox Media Group
