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IN the blink of an eye, an elderly couple watched the contents of their bedroom safe vanish, including cash and jewelry.
The couple, who came to the United States close to 40 years ago, fell victim to a daytime burglary that claimed their life savings.
“My parents actually grew up really poor in China,” their son, Simon Zhong, told San Francisco-based ABC affiliate KGO-TV.
“They actually borrowed money to come over to America and they worked every single day of their life.”
The couple worked in construction and housekeeping to build a life in the US and to be able to send their three kids to school, Simon continued.
But the shameless theft left them nearly empty-handed.
Surveillance video inside and outside of the home captured the incident.
The thieves used a crowbar to pry a back door open and break into the home on Tuesday morning, the footage revealed.
Simon’s parents weren’t home at the time.
His father was untrusting of banks, according to KGO-TV, and kept the couple’s life savings in cash in a safe in their bedroom.
“They took everything from it,” Simon said.
“That was just heartbreaking when I listen to my dad telling the story.”
In addition to cash, the safe also held cherished family heirlooms and items.
“Turns out my parent’s wedding set that was given to them by my grandma, and it just broke my heart when I hear it was also in there,” Simon said.
Simon and his wife had just moved out of his parents’ home weeks before the burglary happened.
He told the outlet he felt guilty for not having been there to stop the thieves.
But Simon’s parents aren’t the only ones who have been preyed upon.
A senior law enforcement official – who wanted to remain anonymous – told KGO-TV that Asian American families have been targeted by thieves because they’re known to keep cash on hand.
“They were like, ‘Wow, we can actually almost see the other house that was broken into two hours prior to yours,'” Simon said cops told him.
Three other people spoke to the outlet about being targeted in the same San Francisco community.
The suspect descriptions in those cases match those of the two men who broke into Simon’s parents’ home.
Simon had a message to share with the outlet regarding those suspects:
“We’re taught to be frugal and to work hard. The way you broke into the home and did this, you aren’t dumb.
“You put in a lot of hard work to do this. You make it so that we have to be scared.
“Asians have to be scared that’s not fair for us to be scared.”
Simon created a GoFundMe to help his parents rebuild, which has raised more than $63,000.
