Only On: Small business owner desperately searching for men who stole purse filled with $10k after day of work
A small business owner is desperately searching for the three men suspect of stealing her hard-earned cash from inside of her vehicle as she cleaned up after a day of work.
Jess, who wished to remain mostly nameless and off camera, in fear of retaliation, owns a small business where she makes and sells various pet products. She was working at a pop up event at Row DTLA over the weekend, with a little help from her mother on Sunday when she had her entire day's profit stolen in less than a minute.
After filing a police report with Los Angeles Police Department, Jess is hopeful to find the three men who can be seen on surveillance footage provided by Row DTLA. The footage shows them taking her mother's purse — filled with money — ffrom the front seat of her car, placing it in a black trash bag and walking away.
"It was very heartbreaking to watch that," Jess said. "It's traumatizing to think about it right now. But, it was my mom's whole entire identity in there. Not just the money and the cash, but her ID, pictures of us as a family."
Jess's mother put the purse in the car to help her daughter clean up after the event. Along with the nearly cash that was taken, her mother's cell phone and other items inside of the purse, she estimates that somewhere around $10k was stolen.
"She feels guilty for losing the cash I had made that day," Jess said. "Every time she watches it she feels like, 'What if?' What if I knew something like this could happen?' Which is why we really feel like it's important to tell the community about this."
Echoing a well-known sentiment from law enforcement, Jess is now warning those around her to remain vigilant and avoid placing any valuable items inside of your car, even if only for a minute.
