On Sunday Madera police officers said two suspects broke into a boutique and stole nearly a hundred pairs of designer denim.
"This is a small business, this is my bread and butter and it was on December 1st, my very first holiday season and we're having to scramble to get the good stuff back in," said Eye Candy Fashion Boutique owner Stacy Dewall.
Dewall is devastated following the high-end grab-and-go at her store during one of the busiest holiday shopping weekends of the year.
"It was my four month anniversary of being open, and we had just closed up from Small Business Saturday and it just felt really good," she said.
Good, she said, until she got a call from a police officer around four o'clock Sunday morning, alerting her to the burglary.
"Police were waiting for us when we arrived and the door, all the glass was broken out. It was just completely open," she said.
Dewall believes the thieves knew exactly what they were after. She said once they gained entry into the store, they headed directly towards the back wall, passing up all kinds of expensive jewelry and pricey merchandise for Miss Me jeans and LA Idol denim. Taking a total of about $15,000 in clothing.
"I'd say they took about 60 pairs of Miss Me jeans and not as many LA idols because they were in a different location," she said.
The Madera Police department said a neighboring business captured the entire crime on camera. Detective Shant Sheklanian said a surveillance system at nearby Burrito King recorded video of car pulling up to the front door of the boutique and captured what looked like two men getting out with an unknown object used to smash open the glass front door.
"It appears the two suspects, possibly males, were driving a newer model sedan," he said. "You can see the suspects arrive with their headlights off, pull up right in front facing Gateway... each of them is in and out once or twice each with armfuls of merchandise."
He said the video is now providing police with important clues about who was involved and who detectives should be on the lookout for.
"Anytime you have surveillance video as evidence, it's helpful to the investigation," he said.
It looks like the suspects knew what they were doing, what they wanted and they had a plan. To me as a detective, that shows me they've probably been in the store before and scoped it out. "We're hopeful that someone will come forward, someone will recognize that vehicle."
In the meantime, Dewall recognizes the hot pants are now a hot crime and is now working to get a leg up on the thieves by increasing security in her store.
"The alarm company came out and put in what's called Glass Break, where the second it detects glass breaking the alarm goes off, rather than waiting several minutes for the thieves to get in and set off the motion detector," she said. "We also have surveillance cameras now so a couple more deterrents."
If you recognize the suspects or the car in the video, police want to hear from you.
They also want you to contact authorities if you see the jeans sold at flea markets, in the Classified ads or on websites like Craigslist. That's because Dewall says the pants are likely being sold illegally because distributors of the Miss Me and LA Idol brands only permit their denim to be sold in stores.
