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A STORE owner has left thieves out of luck thanks to a unique system he designed to stop criminals from looting his business.
An attempted break-in in the middle of the night last week could have devastated California shop owner Robert Gonzales – but he was already a few steps ahead of the robbers.
Footage from December 30 shows criminals in two cars driving up to DripOnDrip, Gonzales’s store in Fresno, at around 3 am.
After one of the cars ran through the front of the store, several people got out of the vehicles and ran inside the shoe store.
However, the thieves were seen looking around confused and leaving the store just 30 seconds after realizing there was nothing to steal.
“If they would have looked through the window, they would have saved themselves some time and energy from even trying to break in,” Gonzales told local NBC outlet KSEE.
“They would have noticed that there is nothing here on the floor for them to take.”
Gonzales was prepared for the break-in after he was robbed at another location a year earlier.
He now protects his business against thieves by clearing out the floor and leaving the cash register open by the window to show it’s empty every night.
However, the thieves persisted on Monday – only to find the store without any worthy merchandise.
Plus, Gonzales leaves a wall of right-foot shoes out at night.
“There’s no value once you take this shoe,” Gonzales said.
“I mean, you can’t just buy a left-foot shoe online either.
“So you’re not going to be able to use that item or even resell it.
“It’s just pointless.”
Gonzales said the thieves took some loose backpacks and two right shoes.
If they would have looked through the window, they would have saved themselves some time and energy from even trying to break in.”
Robert Gonzales
The store owner said he’s thankful his plan worked and that his store remains open.
However, it was still jarring to see looters break into his store.
“Seeing the building that you’re working out of almost every day…just be damaged,” Gonzales said.
“It’s shocking.”
Cops responded to the scene as soon as the store’s alarm went off.
The smashed windows were also quickly boarded up, allowing business to continue as usual on Monday.
