San Gabriel wig shop owner pleads for more policing after 8th break-in

SAN GABRIEL, Calif. (KABC) -- On Monday, thieves smashed their way inside a San Gabriel wig shop. It was no easy task either, surveillance video showed the two masked men using a hammer and then a crowbar to force an opening wide enough to get in.

Terry's Wigs owner, Margarita Torres, said this is the 8th time her business has been burglarized.

"But this time seems like they knew what they were coming for," said Torres. "They took human hair wigs, the most expensive ones that we have here in the store."

Torres believes someone familiar with her shop may have tipped off the thieves. The pair were in and out in just two minutes, enough time to steal thousands of dollars worth of inventory.

"We have tried many times. The doors, we fix it in a way that they can't put the bars into it, and put glass windows that they cannot even break it, but I know now that they could. So, what else can I do," she said.

The break-in dealt a heavy blow, driving up Torres' insurance rates and forcing expensive security upgrades. Though the thought of closing her business has crossed her mind, she refuses to abandon the customers who depend on her-many battling cancer or alopecia.

"We don't sell only. We repair, we customize, we do service for the wigs, we advise. I am a wig designer for them too. So, a lot," said Torres.

Torres hopes that California's new tough-on-crime ballot initiative, Prop 36, passed in November, will help curb thefts through harsher penalties.

"I want to have more police officers maybe more often around this area," she said.

Torres has filed a police report and police are investigating.

Anyone with information about the break-ins is asked to contact the San Gabriel Police Department.