A burglar shattered a front window at DCopper and Gallery, at 1017 Valencia St. near 21st Street, at 3 a.m. Tuesday morning, and snatched a $200 copper necklace out of the front display, according to owner Andrea Paz.
That was not enough. It appears that the same person returned at 5 a.m. with two accomplices, who entered the store, stealing jewelry and bags of Christmas decorations.
“They took stuff in less than five minutes, while the alarm was going off,” said Paz. The alarm didn’t sound at 3 a.m. when the window was shattered, but did as the burglars entered the store around 5 a.m.
“The alarm called the police, who showed up eight or 10 minutes after they left.”
The upstairs neighbors also heard the commotion and called the police. Although the officers arrived quickly, it was too late to intercept the intruders.
“It is scary because people are desperate now, and this could happen more often now,” said Paz, who runs DCopper, which sells handcrafted jewelry, vases and kitchenware, with her husband, Raul Rauda.
They curate a collection of copper items created by Paz’s father at his workshop in her hometown of Michoacán, Mexico. Paz, a fourth generation coppersmith, said she “is not ready to quit,” despite the burglary and slow business as a result of the pandemic.
On Wednesday afternoon, the glass replacement was already underway, and Paz had decided to add additional security to DCopper, including window bars, which she had long resisted as she sees them as an eyesore. “I have to take action and secure the store, even if it blocks the display.”
“I am trying to see the good over the bad, I am going to keep going, be strong and try to fight for the store,” says Paz.
defund the police will never happen. Reform will happen. Only crazies and irrational “woke” white people yell for defund. Sure as fuck no one in low income areas want police to be absent.
Only total low-lifes would pull a stunt like this.
Inexcusable. Do not de-fund the police.