CLERMONT, Fla. – A Clermont beauty supply store owner says he is struggling to protect his business after it was broken into for the sixth time in 10 years.
The owner of Sole Beauty Supply said that despite upgrading security cameras and installing alarms after previous break-ins, thieves still targeted the store early Friday morning.
Surveillance video captured the moment two suspects smashed through the front door of the store around 4 a.m., according to the Clermont Police Department. One suspect used a brick to break the glass before the pair rushed inside and grabbed merchandise.
Owner Rupert Lespeare said the suspects stole about $19,000 worth of beauty products and jewelry.
“When it came to the hop up on the table here, and then they start grabbing all these,” Lespeare said. “These are human wigs and human hair extensions and all this stuff.”
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Lespeare said the suspects also took an entire jewelry display tower from the store.
After multiple break-ins over the years, Lespeare said he upgraded security systems inside and outside the business and installed an alarm designed to activate once the glass is broken. However, he said he has been unable to add additional protections he believes could help prevent future crimes.
“I mean we tried to reach out to the landowner, landlord and just to tell them about putting up like a gate … on the building,” Lespeare said. “But it’s like, no, really, not really for it.”
Lespeare said he was told security gates could not be installed because the building’s walls were too hollow.
When asked what the landlord said following the latest break-in, Lespeare said, “Well, they haven’t reached out to us.”
Attempts to contact the landlord for comment were unsuccessful.
While Lespeare was being interviewed inside the store, Clermont Police Department posted an update saying investigators had identified one suspect and the vehicle involved in the break-in, despite the vehicle’s tag being covered in surveillance footage.
Police said 26-year-old Joshua Leaster was identified as one of the suspects after he was arrested by the Orange County Sheriff’s Office in an unrelated incident.
Investigators said they are still working to identify the second suspect seen in the surveillance video.