A San Francisco ice cream shop owner said he felt a “rollercoaster of emotions” and “anger” after burglars broke into his business twice in the same morning.
Security footage showed one pair getting away with the cash register and other equipment, leaving the door wide open when they left. Another sole perpetrator came along later and stole merchandise, including supplies and ice cream she scooped with her bare hands.
Now 24-year-old “What’s the Scoop” owner Anthony Womack is left to foot a $15,000-$20,000 bill to cover the cost of the damages, but he isn’t facing the issue alone.
SAN FRANCISCO CRIME PROBLEM RUNS DEEPER THAN ROSE STATISTICS FROM CITY, EXPERT SAYS
“The community in the Bayview area have helped out a great bit,” he told “Fox & Friends First” on Tuesday.
“San Francisco has really helped out and stepped up to help me recoup from all the damages and the merchandise. Mayor London Breed has also been a big help by funding grants for business owners in San Francisco.”
Womack was notified about the burglaries early Friday when an employee arrived at the shop at approximately 10:45 a.m., The San Francisco Standard reported.
“The burglars were in here for about 40 minutes, just loading up their car, a bunch of stuff,” he told the outlet, adding later that the stolen cash register contained about $500. The later suspect, who stole away with supplies and ice cream, was estimated to have taken about $2,000 worth of equipment. Womack also suffered losses from being forced to toss out over 20 gallons of contaminated ice cream.
Womack told “Fox & Friends First” that he grew up in the area and the shop was his way of giving back to the community he loves. With a school nearby and a baseball field across the street, he said the business seemed like a perfect way to benefit the area.
SAN FRANCISCO BUSINESS OWNERS AND RESIDENTS TALK DRUG, CRIME CRISIS: ‘ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE,’ ‘DYSTOPIA’
He told FOX 2 San Francisco, however, that the losses made him wonder if his decision to open the shop last November was the right one.
“It was kind of a tipping point for me,” he told the outlet. “It definitely put that thought and those negative feelings in my mind that, you know, ‘Do I really want to do this?’”
Police are continuing their search for the thieves, but Womack said he already identified one of the suspects captured on video.
“They’re neighbors of mine,” he said. “They stay right upstairs from the ice cream shop, actually. We are getting a lot closer to it [to finding them all], and the community has just stepped up to find out who these people are… we found footage of vehicles and [have] addresses at this point…”
Womack told The San Francisco Standard he plans to clean up the mess the thieves left behind and reopen his business on Tuesday.
