Thieves ransack two Northridge businesses

NORTHRIDGE, Calif. - An early morning burglary last Thursday left two Northridge businesses devastated. 

Security video from the Modern Barber Room and Pisco Sour Market on Roscoe Boulevard show the break-ins.

Eight masked men bypassed security bars and locks, and didn’t seem to care that cameras were rolling, or that they were stealing from people who are scraping and sacrificing to build their businesses. 

"I was crying because I work everyday more than 12 hours," said Catherine Palomino, who owns Pisco Sour Market, which sells food and goods from her native Peru as well as other South American countries. 

She says the thieves went after the ATM, cash registers, and money transfers. She estimates she's out about $20,000.

"Why they don't work," she said. "There are lots of jobs in this country."

It’s a sentiment echoed by the owner of the Modern Barber Room, who asked we not use his name. 

He said the burglars, who were covered from head to toe to make them hard to identify, knew what they were doing. 

They broke into his ATM, stole clippers, equipment, and even money from the tip jar. 

"You're  impacting small businesses," he said of the thieves. "We work really hard for our money and we are just trying to get by."

He estimates losses and damage at $30,000 and has started a GoFundMe to help his barbers. 

Palomino has also started a GoFundMe because she says after two previous break-ins, her insurance company dropped her and her new company won't cover burglaries.

"It's very sad," she says. " In LA there is no security."