Bitcoin Burglar Hits Brentwood Village Bakery
BRENTWOOD VILLAGE (CBSLA) — A bakery break-in and the guy went straight for the dough. But it wasn't the kind of cash machine most are used to. This one is for bitcoin.
Security cameras captured the man using a sledgehammer to bash through the glass door of a bakery in Brentwood Village.
The crook made a beeline to a bitcoint machine on the wall above an ATM.
The burglar tried to crack the machine open with the hammer but he couldn't so he ran out the door of Belwood Bakery, which is owned by Derek Tran's family.
"It scares our neighbors. Our workers. It scares us. You know? Because it could happen at any time," said Derek Tran.
Tran says Sunday's break-in was the third in recent weeks.
On December 21st two young men with hoodies went through the glass door as well. And on November 18th another group of crooks left damage.
The staff now uses the buddy system at the start and the end of each workday.
"Just checking if the door has been broken into or if anything looks out of place," said employee Diana Garcia.
Nothing was taken during the first two break-ins. But the third involved a bitcoin machine leasing space there and the ATM machine.
"I so concerned about the ATM machine, I tell them take it off. Don't need to put any money inside the store," said bakery owner David-Paul Tran.
Derek Tran says the bakery may be in Brentwood Village but it's truly a small business, run by a family that fled Vietnam as refugees.
He has no idea if the bitcoin machine stolen had any cash in it.
"A lot of labor man. Hard labor. Hard blood, sweat and tears. It's a hard hustle man. And we do it every day," said Tran. "When somebody comes like that, ruin that, make it even harder for us. It sucks."
