Police search for suspects who burglarized 3 Van Nuys businesses

VAN NUYS, LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Authorities are searching for suspects who burglarized three businesses in Van Nuys and were captured on surveillance video committing the crime.

In one video, a burglar wearing a hoodie grabbed a register and took off into a back room. His partner entered the business, 818 Barbershop, and used a crowbar to pry open the register to grab $1,000 cash.

The pair then tried to bust through the bathroom wall to get into a wireless store next door, but hit cinderblocks. Before they left, they stole two TVs off the wall and tools valued at $2,000 from each barber station.

"Every brand that's out there for a barber to use, we have it and we had it. For them to take it like that, man, it's just pretty expensive," Danny Herrera said.

The burglars waited a few hours and then broke into We The People, a document preparation business. They ripped out the drywall and insulation, leaving a mess for owner Oleg Arakelyan.

"I got a phone call from my neighbor...and well he said that it's a burglary so somebody entered the office. It's a mess," he said.

Once the burglars climbed through the gaping hole and into the wireless store, the owner said they stole about $25,000 in smartphones.

A metal gate kept them from breaking in through the front door. The store owners believe that's why the burglars targeted We The People and 818 Barbershop, stealing whatever they could while inside the stores.

"We worked so hard to do what we do. This is an art and it's a barber hustle and it's just, it's life for us," Herrera said.

The strip mall is at a busy intersection - Balboa Boulevard and Sherman Way - and the incident happened between 3 a.m. and 5 a.m.

Video from the wireless store will also be submitted to police and reviewed. Authorities said the getaway vehicle is described as a white newer-model Mercedez-Benz.

A GoFundMe account has also been set up for 818 Barbershop to help pay for the loss of tools. If you want to donate, you may go to gofundme.com/tools-for-barbers.

Anyone with more information is urged to contact the Los Angeles Police Department.