LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department is investigating after two downtown Las Vegas businesses were broken into Thursday morning.
"It takes you back a bit," said Taylor Chaney, owner of Dig It! Coffee Co. "I think the most jarring thing was to see the video because you see the person coming inside and that instantly kind of makes your stomach turn."
Chaney's surveillance cameras captured the break-in on camera. In the video, you can see a masked individual in black clothing smash the glass of the main entrance door and make their way to the register. The video was time-stamped Thursday around 5:19 a.m.
"It's a bit violating when someone comes in a space you've created," Chaney said. "It's doesn't feel great."
Chaney said the suspect was looking for cash but since Dig It! Coffee Co. is a cashless business, there was nothing for the suspect to take.
However, the person did leave behind nearly $2,000 worth of damage.
"Fortunately, we are a cashless shop and that's what we think the person was looking for. And so, they just did more damage than anything. We are grateful no one was hurt. " Chaney said. "We work really hard here and we want to pay out people and do all those things to help ourselves grow and succeed and it's just been very challenging. And so, to have to face an unexpected cost of something like this for someone who just made an unkind decision, it's just hurtful."
Nearly an hour before Chaney's coffee shop was struck, another break-in was underway at Tacotarian around 4:30 am.
A masked individual in black clothing is seen on camera making their way behind the bar and snatching the cash register before leaving the scene.
"It makes me very sad and frustrated at the same time because we work really hard," said Miriam Cedeno, manager at Tacotarian. "Now, I feel unsafe."
Cedeno said there was only $10 inside the register. She said the restaurant is faced with fixing roughly $3,500 worth of damage.
"We are a small business," Cedeno said. "It's really hard to recover from that situation because it's really expensive."
The businesses said they have received an overwhelming heartwarming response from the community after the break-ins were shared on social media.
"I feel really grateful to have my customers, to have my community," Cedeno said.
"All of these beautiful people who have reached out to us to say we're sorry and we believe in you and you can do this, that's why we do what we do," Chaney said.
Both businesses said they will be looking to increase security measure to hopefully prevent future incidents.
