Merced shop owner hoping 'Hello Kitty' Bandit won't force him out of business because of break-ins

MERCED, Calif. (KFSN) -- In the North Valley, a gift shop was broken into for the seventh time by a suspect called the 'Hello Kitty' Bandit.

On Friday, the suspect caught on camera. You see him looking through the glass, then moments later, he breaks the glass, reaches in and takes what he can grab before the alarm caused him to hop on his bike and pedal away.

"It's very depressing. I'm just trying to make a living here," said Dj Jones, Aloha Floral and Gift Shop Owner.

Jones said his store sells anything from flowers and jewelry to collectibles. But in the past year, Jones said he's also started a new collection that he wished he would never have started. Cards that he has received from Merced Police after each individual break in including the most recent on Friday.

"I'm over it-- I'm over it. I wanna catch this guy and bring him to justice."

After the sixth break-in back in May, Jones said he's installed cameras, alarms, and window breakers. He said the break-ins have cost him thousands in both merchandise and window repair.

"It's just money you don't have you have to put it in because you want to catch the guy doing it."

Jones' mother Judy helped him pay for the surveillance and said the last several months have been a nightmare

"The insurance company might at some point say we can't keep doing this, and it could be 100 percent out of pocket, and then that really going to hurt."

Now, Jones fears the worst.

"That it's going to put me out of business. That's the last thing I want. All my blood sweat and tears is in this place-- I love it."

Police said they are currently investigating and do not yet have a suspect in the incident.

Close by to the store, the Golf Depot is closing because of all the break-ins. Jones just says he hopes that the same fate doesn't happen to his store.