San Francisco

Business Owner Demands Changes After SF Antique Shop Burglarized

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A San Francisco small business owner is calling for more protections for small businesses, as his store is the latest to get hit by smash-and-grab thieves.

John Quillinan posted a video on popular social media site Tik Tok, where he documented the aftermath of a burglary at his Fillmore street store.

“Sorry, I’m a little emotional this is very stressful for me,” he said in the video.

This week, an early morning alarm was the first sign of trouble at Mureta & Co.

Quillinan said he arrived to find found tens of thousands of dollars in merchandise gone.

“They destroyed most of our cases they destroyed art on the grounds, they destroyed glass, they took all of our silver out of our silver cases,” Quillinan said.

Security video showed what unfolded early Wednesday morning. Police actually arrived to find the burglary in progress, an SUV out front and multiple people making off with merchandise.

Officers tried to stop the car, but it reversed and took off and officers also reported hearing what they thought was gunfire coming from the car.

“It looks like a tornado went through that place. Everything is smashed kicked broken,” he said.

Vas Kiniris a former executive director of the Fillmore Merchants Association speaks on the incident.

“The street has fallen on very hard times and it’s really hard for the merchants to operate their business at a minimum. We need maintenance and security in these corridors because if merchants don’t have that at a minimum. They can’t do their job," he said.

“I think if people just know this kind of thing is happening to local businesses local stores a lot just go out there and support them and shop at local stores because we are struggling," said Caroline Quillinan.

The Quillinans have a baby on the way. They said plan to pick up the pieces and hopefully reopen by March.

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