A South Florida barbershop was targeted over the weekend, with a suspect seen on surveillance video taking away thousands of dollars worth of equipment and damaging the business.
This is the latest crime caught on camera in southwestern Miami-Dade County.
Carlos Perez and Pablo Salgado are owners of Pablo's Barber Shop, a community that has been coming together for years.
“This is like a second home to me, and I've been here so long that it's almost my first home,” Perez said.
But it wasn't until hours after they left Saturday that they said someone had broken into their store.
“It's heartbreaking,” Salgado said. “It's something I put my blood, sweat, and tears into.”
Owners say surveillance video shows someone throwing a rock at the door and breaking the glass to gain entry. A minute later, the suspect came out of the barbershop holding a garbage bag. Perez said the bag contained a number of barber tools and other equipment.
“It's like an artist and their brush, a tattoo artist and their tattoo gun. It's something personal to us and something that has great value to us,” Perez said. “It's touching to know that someone could go there at any time during the night and you're not here to protect them.”
A few miles from the shopping plaza is Parc Frangio. In the past few weeks, many parents, grandparents and baseball coaches have expressed concerns about safety in the area.
Late last month, children and parents attending a Little League baseball game fled in terror after a hail of gunfire near the park. Two people were found shot nearby.
Dramatic video shows children running away during a baseball game as two men are shot and killed in a nearby shooting in Cutler Bay. NBC6's Bri Buckley reports.
“Everyone here was scared,” said Alexis Hendrickse, director of the Perrine Baseball Softball Association.
She said after the shooting, the board raised money and partnered with the city of Cutler Bay and Miami-Dade commissioners to pay for officers to patrol the park at every game until next month.
She said she will work with city and county commissioners to plan for December and beyond.
“Having police here is a way to show parents that we hear you, that we care, and that we want you to feel safe here,” Hendrickse said. said. “We want everyone to go home. We want everyone to feel comfortable here. We don't want people to feel scared.”
Back at the barbershop, all they want is to catch this person.
“There are people out there who are honestly trying to make a living. They're putting their lives into their business and trying to provide for their families, and when something like this happens, it can really derail them. '' Perez said.
Miami-Dade police are investigating a suspected store robbery.
There is a GoFundMe for the barbershop.
Correction (Nov. 8, 2024, 8:07 a.m. ET): This article has been updated to reflect that the crime occurred in southwestern Miami-Dade County, not Cutler Bay.