FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- A Tower District artist is now considering moving after her home was burglarized for the second time in two years.
This time, the thieves took off with nearly $10,000 in supplies along with items that cannot be replaced.
Stephanie Pearl has lived in the Tower District for more than 20 years. The suspects stole electric saws, paint brushes and even rare items that she had been collecting since the 1990s.
Pearl says the thieves took off the entire door of her back fence before going to great lengths to break in to her artist studio. Stephanie Pearl says, "I put a big deadbolt on that door so they ended up breaking this window right here, which is very small, and crawled in that way."
Once inside, the suspects got their hands on large, machine-powered saws which Pearl uses to cut and piece together wood for her artwork. Pearl says, "Every tool I have was in its own suitcase it comes in. So, all my plunge routers, my drills, they have their own cases and they all slide in here."
After they grabbed the expensive machinery, they took a large tool chest full of nice paint brushes, saws and more importantly -- antique knick-knacks that she incorporates into her art. She'd been collecting the items for the last twenty years. Stephanie Pearl says, "It's like the saws can be replaced. I get that. It's stuff. But those things can't be replaced and that's what kills me."
She's also thankful her three pups didn't escape during the crime.
Pearl's studio was also broken into two years ago so she had actually put in extra deadbolts and locks on all windows and doors to prevent this type of crime from happening again. The burglars actually had to break out through another door in order to escape. Pearl says, "I was heartbroken. I just couldn't believe it happened again. I thought I did all the right precautions by putting on the deadbolt and getting window locks and things like that."
She says crime has gotten so bad in the Tower District, she's likely going to move out of the area she's loved to call home for the last 20 years.
Pearl says, "Then you hear about your friends up the street who've been robbed and my next door neighbor has been robbed and it starts to whittle. I think every little layer, every single time it happens it just weighs heavier and heavier on you and I'm just discouraged. I don't want to be here anymore. It sounds terrible and it's not even me. People that know me know that I've always been a cheerleader for the Tower and a big supporter."