Local salad chain broken into for 11th time in 18 months
The owner of a Los Angeles chain of salad restaurants is speaking out after a store was burglarized for the 11th time in 18 months.
The Simply Salad location in the 5000 block of Slauson Avenue in Ladera Heights was targeted again just after 1 a.m. Friday morning, according to surveillance video provided to KTLA.
Video shows a dark-colored SUV pull into the restaurant’s parking lot, then a man in a red, white and blue jacket appears to smash through a glass window and enter the store. He was inside for less than a minute before leaving the restaurant, re-entering the SUV and driving away.
“Despite alarms and all the other security measures and them not getting [money], we still keep getting broken into,” said the chain’s co-owner, who asked to remain anonymous to protect his safety. He had a sense of humor about the situation, noting that they “have romaine back there, not diamonds.”
“Food so good customers break in at night,” he joked.
But on a more serious note, this is the 11th time a Simply Salad was broken into using this same technique, the co-owner said.
In each case, the stores — all are in L.A. County — are broken into through windows, and though there’s damage done, no money is stolen.
“Every time folks smash windows, the alarm system scares them away,” he said. “They destroy equipment and don’t get cash from us due to our procedures to safeguard against that.”
Despite the numerous occurrences, no one has been arrested, he added.
“There’s no consequences for these actions, other than us having to pay to fix glass, which is not fun for our small business,” he said. “We’re super appreciative of law enforcement and we have many customers that serve and protect. It’s just really difficult because petty crime like this isn’t stopped or prevented and as a result, it continues. And when it continues, it makes it harder for us to serve the communities in which we operate.”
“All we want to do is identify and apprehend the bad guys to stop them from doing this to us and others in the future.”
Karina Cardenas contributed to this report.
Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTLA.
