MIAMI (WSVN) - The owners of a Miami vape shop have been left with a bunch of damage to clean up after they were targeted twice in two days.
Both of the burglaries were caught on surveillance video. During the first break in, which happened Tuesday morning, the thieves smashed in through the front door. During the second incident that took place overnight Wednesday, they took out the front glass window — all while wearing Halloween masks.
“The video shows them hammering through the windows, hammering through the door,” owner David Marquez said.
The burglaries took place at the Vaporize Me Smoke and Tobacco store, near Southwest Eighth Street and Seventh Avenue.
Marquez has owned the shop for six years and was devastated to see it broken into.
“It makes me second guess what might be safe, how to leave the store,” he said. “Might have to put full on shutters, a gate, something. It’s tough. It’s not easy. I don’t even know what to say. How do you lock up at night knowing that they’re still there?”
It was the second time the store was broken into in less than 48 hours.
“We actually stayed here all day yesterday after crime scene left and the police left, and we were actually able to go inside and fix everything. We actually fixed everything, cleaned everything up,” said co-owner Amanda Diaz. “Today, we were going to arrive early to do inventory. Unfortunately, at 3 in the morning, we received a phone call again from our alarm system stating that we were burglarized again. We just got up and came over here, and actually our damage is worse today than yesterday.”
Between the two burglaries, Marquez said about $50,000 in merchandise was stolen.
“The first night was about 20 grand in damages,” he said. “The second night, this night, was about 30. In six years, we’ve never had that kind of problem.”
The crooks smashed windows and display cases during their heist.
“This was one of them,” Marquez said. “They crushed it from here, before they broke the glass, they actually crushed the frame. This right here was full of more pipes. They crushed the glass.”
If you have any information on these burglaries, call Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at 305-471-TIPS. Remember, you can always remain anonymous, and you may be eligible for a $1,000 reward.
Copyright 2024 Sunbeam Television Corp. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.