Despite video, fingerprints Arden-Arcade beauty store break-in could go unsolved
ARDEN-ARCADE - An Arden-Arcade beauty store was burglarized and the incident was caught on tape, but still, the evidence may not be a slam dunk for arrests.
It's a scene we've seen before: A boarded-up window and a shattered glass door -- signs of a break-in -- and another small business is out thousands of dollars.
"It just feels like kind of like somebody just punched you in the gut," said Debbie Ditore, the store's owner.
They did it with a hammer. Two thieves grabbed what they could from the shelves and jewelry case at Total Beauty Experience in Arden.
"They probably stole anywhere between $15,000-$20,000 worth of inventory," said Ditore.
The two-person team split up and one ran down an aisle stocked with expensive tools.
"These people primarily focused on the styling tools, which were the curling iron, flat irons, and blow dryers, and then they also were able to get some of our high-end hair care products," Ditore said.
"There is a lot of evidence collected there. I mean, there's fingerprints, there's, you know, all kinds of other things that are there," said Sacramento County Sheriff's Office spokesperson Amar Gandhi.
Next to the shelves emptied by thieves, a warning to thieves about surveillance cameras in use was ignored. But was this evidence of the break-in and footage enough to make an arrest?
"All that collected evidence is only as good as the information that database," said Gandhi. "So, if we aren't taking people to jail anymore, we don't have the opportunity to collect these fingerprints."
This happened when the store was closed, Sac Sheriff explained it's a burglary that happened to be at a retail store, making it a felony rather than retail theft, which carries a more lenient penalty..
"We're just trying to survive like everyone else," said Ditore.
Ditore said she is hoping for arrests, but she has to focus on the business and rebuilding what was lost. She hopes consumers continue to shop local.
