Video shows half-dozen burglars ransack family-owned business in Santa Clarita

SANTA CLARITA, Calif. (KABC) -- It's three hours before the open sign turns on in Santa Clarita's Seco Mini Market.

But as surveillance video shows, a group of six people are behind the counter, helping themselves.

"They rampaged the whole place, they broke our registers," says Deyar Alrabadi, whose family owns the business. "They stole scratchers, they stole liquor, cigarette cartons, bunch of other things."

The market is part convenience store, part bottle shop, part deli - and entirely a family business.

Deyar's mom and dad are often behind the counter.

"My parents are working 16-hour days, even more sometimes when they need to," Deyar says. "And it's hard when something like this happens to us because it's like we work so hard for what we have and when somebody takes it for granted it just goes away."

The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department says the group drove up early Sunday in two stolen Kias.

They broke in through the front glass door.

That's when the Alrabadis say they were alerted - and even watched the thieves at work in real time on video as police were en route.

"At 5:02 the alarm company notified us and by the time the cops arrived, they were long gone," Deyar says.

The sense of helplessness hasn't worn off.

"There's a lot of other precautions we could take but ones we don't want to take because - like, we don't want to put a metal gate up. It's not a neighborhood that we need that."

The LASD has launched an investigation, but right now hasn't shared descriptions of possible suspects.

Deyar says he doesn't recognize anyone in the video, leaving him with the persistent questions of who did this and why.

"It's hard for me to sleep because I'm always looking at the cameras now just to make sure nobody's coming in and trying to take advantage again."