Long Beach shop owners said they’re frustrated with continuous crime after a vandal smashed the windows of over a dozen businesses.
Surveillance video captured the man strolling through the East Village Arts District shortly before midnight on Thursday.
He embarked on a violent window-smashing spree, destroying storefronts and nearby parked cars that happened to land in his view.
Using a device in his hand, he randomly smashes in windows before casually walking away each time.
“He broke 15 business windows last night,” said Michael Mosselli, the owner of Brushstrokes and Beverages.
Although Mosselli’s shop wasn’t vandalized, many of his neighbors were not so fortunate.
“These poor guys,” Mosselli said. “These windows cost a lot of money to replace. They’re all big windows, old buildings and this shouldn’t continue to happen.”
Witnesses said the suspect also smashed dozens of car windows near a Chase bank parking lot by Ocean Boulevard and Elm Avenue.
Residents and shop owners in Long Beach said they’re tired of the constant crime and want local officials to intervene.
“That took a long time to break that many windows and no cops showed up,” Mosselli said. “I understand they’re overworked and busy, but that’s a long time [for the suspect] to break all those windows.”
Long Beach police said they later identified and located the suspect on Friday afternoon and took him into custody.
Locals said a spike in homelessness across Long Beach, along with unpunished nonviolent crimes, has made it difficult to successfully run a business in the city.
“This shouldn’t continue to happen,” Mosselli said. “Because it’s happened with the homeless. It’s happened with mentally disturbed people. We’re having things like this happen on a daily basis. Hopefully, the city does something about this. It has to stop.”
A motive behind the window smashing remains unclear. The suspect’s identity was not released as the incidents remain under investigation.
Anyone who was a victim or has additional information on the case can call the Long Beach Police Department at 562-435-6711.
Business owners who were vandalized are encouraged to consider the city’s Visual Improvement Program where they could receive up to $1,500 in financial assistance to help them recover from crime or vandalism.
Information about the Long Beach Visual Improvement Program can be found here.