February 24, 2021 – Long Beach Post – On Saturday, February 20 at around 7 a.m., business owner Sarah Benton-Obando woke up to some bad news.

The owner of a nearby coffee shop called her to say that someone had shattered her glass door and burglarized her business, Lil Devils Boutique, a place where many parents buy niche merchandise for their babies and young children on Fourth Street’s Retro Row.

The burglars threw a rock through the window, took the cash register and damaged merchandise while forcing the entry, Benton-Obando said.

For someone to steal from a kids’ store, she said she felt “shocked” and “sad.”

“It’s hard times right now, and a lot of people are suffering,” said Benton-Obando, a Long Beach resident. “I’ve seen it happen to so many other people; it just catches you off guard when it happens to you.”

The Long Beach Police Department said that they arrived at the store about an hour after the incident and observed the damages. Police are investigating the incident, and there is no information on the suspect(s).

Despite the pandemic and burglary, Benton-Obando remained open for business, but she had already been going through hardships after both of her 87-year-old paternal grandparents died in a two-week period this year. After losing her grandparents, Long Beach residents, the weekend’s burglary has made it hard to cope.

“I think we’re just kinda numb,” she said.

Luckily, she said, less than $1,000 was stolen from the register, but the cost of repairs is over $3,000. In response, fellow business owner Nicole Sloan, of Drawings by Nicole, a store for “weird moms” that sells grunge merchandise, started a GoFundMe page to help cover costs.

Read more at Long Beach Post.