TAMARAC, Fla. – A South Florida wig store has been robbed numerous times, with thousands of dollars’ worth of merchandise stolen from the family business.
The repeated robberies happened in Tamarac.
It’s gotten so bad the owner is considering closing her doors to protect her family.
Surveillance video shows the crook wander in and chat up two teenaged employees while looking for wigs and asking questions.
It goes on for a while before the perp takes two boxes full of merchandise.
“At least over $5,000 of human hair inventory,” said Charelle Thompson-Berry, owner of The Beauty Plug Enterprise. “It’s me, my husband and my two daughters. It’s extremely frustrating as a small business. When we opened this business we thought we were doing something great for the community.”
Thompson-Berry says Sunday’s heist was a breaking point.
The crook snatched the boxes from behind the counter with her daughter standing watch, and it’s not the first time this has happened.
“The response I guess that I’m getting from the community is not what we expected, and it’s just extremely hard to keep going,” said Thompson-Berry. “I can’t keep putting my daughters through this type of trauma. My family, my children, they come first.”
A few months back, another pricey wig heist took place, and a few months before that, Thompson-Berry’s daughter was pepper sprayed during a robbery.
Three arrests soon followed that crime.
It’s gotten to the point Thompson-Berry needs more security, beyond a big stick and some pepper spray she keeps behind the counter.
Her family has sacrificed so much to make this lifelong dream happen, but it’s now become a nightmare.
“Not only are we here to service this community through this store, but we donate, we volunteer time, we sponsor events, we are active in the community and it’s just disheartening and disappointing that we continue to go through this,” Thompson-Berry said.
Anyone with information on the latest robbery or who thinks they recognize the person in the video is urged to contact Broward Crime Stoppers at 954-493-TIPS.