caught on camera

San Jose Barber Shop Hit by Thieves Twice in Four Days

NBC Universal, Inc.

South Bay barber shop owners said they are literally scraping along after surviving a pandemic, a fire, and now back-to-back break-ins.

The latest snags, two in the last four days, were caught on camera and it cost them thousands of dollars.

“We finally make it through the pandemic. Boom! Next time, we have our neighbors end up catching a fire. So, we're down a couple weeks from that and now, we're on our second burglary and were like, ‘man what's next?’” said Shawn Tatum, co-owner of Proper Cuts Barber Shop in San Jose’s Japantown. 

The first burglary happened Saturday night. Cameras show two suspects with backpacks scavenging the place.

“All the tools were gone from our barbers, from our station,” said Christian Rojas, co-owner of the business.

The shop has eight barbers, each lost about $2,000-worth of tools.

Thieves reportedly went into the shop from an empty building right next door, where they knocked down the dividing door and went in. 

After that incident, owners, Tatum and Rohas said they decided to invest in the ADT Alarm System.

But the thieves came back early Wednesday morning, through the same door and destroyed their ATM. They said ADT never notified them or the police.

“We contacted them and they said that there was a glitch in the system and they apologized for that happening, and that they would refund us $500 or give us $500 in advance. But unfortunately what we lost, was way more than $500,” said Rojas.

NBC Bay Area contacted ADT Security but has not heard back.

Meanwhile, Tatum and Rojas said they’re not giving up and hope San Jose city leaders won’t either. 

Contact Us