La Cañada Flintridge shoe store targeted in back-to-back burglaries

Amanda Palacios Image
Tuesday, August 13, 2024
Burglars target La Cañada Flintridge shoe store twice in 1 week
Video shows three hooded suspects break the window at Solez, ransack the store and take off with valuable merchandise. The shop was hit again days later.

LA CAÑADA FLINTRIDGE, Calif. (KABC) -- A shoe store in La Cañada Flintridge was hit twice within a week by burglars - and the owner thinks it was likely the same crew.

Video shows three hooded suspects break the window at Solez, ransack the store and take off with valuable merchandise last Thursday around 3 a.m.

"It's the absolute worst thing that could happen because me not being able to provide something for my client when they walk in, it's just the worst feeling," said the store owner, who asked to remain anonymous.

Even though the owner hired a security guard, the store was hit again just days later - Monday around 6 a.m.

"They waited until the security guard was off his time. And from that second to approximately a few minutes after the security guard left, they shattered the front window," the owner said.

Surveillance video from across the street shows at least three suspects loading merchandise into a silver sedan on Monday.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department says the investigation is ongoing and the suspects remain at large.

A mother and son who spoke to Eyewitness News off camera reported their red Hyundai was stolen and used by the suspects to get to the store. When they recovered the car, they found the engine still running.

"I think it's the same people," the store owner said.

"It seems like it would be. It could be different people. Of course, we never really know 100%, but what I'm thinking, what the police are probably thinking, is that it is the same crew. They knew the store was vulnerable. They knew that they could do it. It wasn't their first time."