Shop cat, tools and thousands of dollars stolen during burglary of South LA barbershop

SOUTH LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Burglars hit a barbershop in South Los Angeles, taking not only equipment, but the store's pet cat, too. Now, the hunt is on for the thieves.

The barbershop was still cleaning up on Saturday night after burglars stole their equipment and beloved shop pet this week. Their owner is hopeful the public will recognize whoever is responsible for the crime.

"They pretty much just destroyed my business in two minutes, three minutes," said Joe Gomez, the owner of LA Fresh Cuts.

On a morning meant for family, a crew of burglars made themselves right at home inside LA Fresh Cuts.

Surveillance video shows them smashing their way into the barbershop on East Florence Avenue just before 2:30 a.m. on Thanksgiving.

"They broke the shelf to take our inventory, like the gels and products we were selling. Not sure why they did this, but they took the whole door down as well," Gomez said.

Once they got inside, the burglars moved fast, tearing through workstations and grabbing anything of value.

Out of everything they took, the loss that hit the hardest was their shop pet, Simba.

"They ran to the back, took the cat, and carelessly just threw him on the back of the car," Gomez said.

Simba is the shop's mascot and a friendly fixture in the barber chairs.

Surveillance video shows the moment the masked burglars stole Simba in his kennel, as he frantically springs around, looking for help.

"It's not just any cat, it's a family member. My Savannah cat, his name is Simba," Gomez said.

The burglars also got away with barber tools, inventory and thousands of dollars in cash set aside for the shop's fantasy football leagues. Not to mention the cost of the damage left behind.

"It's about $14,000 that I have to cover," Gomez said.

Detectives are combing through surveillance video, but until there are leads, Gomez says he's stepping up security on his own.

"I've been sleeping on this couch I have right here at the barbershop so that nobody else comes in and breaks in and takes any of our other property," Gomez said.

For now, the focus isn't on getting back what was stolen, but rather who was stolen. Gomez shared a message to the people responsible for Simba's kidnapping.

"Not only did you guys take away a family member, not only did you destroy my business, but you're taking away from the community. He's not just a number; he's a family member, so please, bring Simba back," Gomez said.

LA Fresh Cuts has set up a GoFundMe page for help in repairing the store.