Burglar breaks into Glassell Park businesses

Multiple businesses in Glassell Park were burglarized early Monday morning.

The break-ins were reported just after 5:30 a.m., and officers arrived to the 4100 block of Verdugo Road to find at least two businesses had their windows smashed in a break-in attempt, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.

KTLA’s Kimberly Cheng reported that four businesses were affected: two restaurants, a hair salon and a laundry mat, and time stamps from surveillance footage in the area shows that the windows were damaged between 4:30 and 4:45 a.m.

Business owners added that what was stolen was minimal — in one case, only a couple of dollars — but the cost of the damage will be extensive.

“It’s bad. Los Angeles is getting worse,” said Michael Budny, owner of Polka Restaurant. “We’re hoping to get better, you know, we’re working very hard after COVID to rebuild our businesses and all of a sudden, this happens. If this person wants food, come in and ask me for food. If they want water, come in and ask me for water. If they want to work, don’t be a coward and just break the windows.”

Surveillance video showed one burglar who was wearing a mask, but police believe a second person might have been involved.

Nancy Fontan contributed to this report.

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