Surveillance cameras captured thieves smashing through the front door of a South Florida business, stealing thousands of dollars’ worth of perfume.
The owner said that, unfortunately, she’s gone through this before.
Adi Schwartz-Gomez, the owner of Perfume Outlet 1803 in Hollywood, said she got a notification on her phone Sunday that the alarm was going off at her store. So she pulled up her cameras and watched in real time as thieves stole perfume from inside her business.
“You’re just like, (expletive) again,” Schwartz-Gomez said. “It’s a little bit traumatizing, it’s a violation of my safe space.”
Schwartz-Gomez dialed 911 and got ready to drive to her store.
“You just kind of go into anxiety mode, and you’re shaking,” she said.
When she showed up, she saw glass everywhere and bottles on the ground. The thieves were already gone.
“Frustrated, defeated a little bit, it’s a small mom and pop business, we’re big on community,” Schwartz-Gomez said. “Damage to the door, damage to the display cases, a lot of broken bottles and spilled perfume.”
Schwartz-Gomez said thieves targeted her business almost two years ago in almost the same way. Both times, thieves made off with thousands of dollars’ worth of perfume and caused significant damage, she said.
“Definitely feels similar, and if it’s not the same, definitely a lot of coincidences, Schwartz-Gomez said. “I’m still paying for stolen goods from the previous break-in, so I can’t really say how you move forward because I’m barely putting in a dent from that bill.”
Schwartz-Gomez has a message to the people who broke into her business.
“We all work really hard, we all have families, and you all want to be lazy and take the easy road out. My message is mostly for these people’s families and friends, stop keeping these people’s secrets because one day it’s going to be you or your neighbor,” Schwartz-Gomez said.
Schwartz-Gomez said she was at another location a few years ago, and someone broke into that store. She said they moved to their current location because they weren’t feeling safe.
Hollywood Police detectives are continuing to investigate this case.
