Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office investigates a burglary at the Isla Vista Co-Op
ISLA VISTA, Calif. — Devlin Ott wasn’t expecting to walk into the scene of a burglary when she came into work Saturday morning at the Isla Vista Co-Op.
“They came in through that top window. They busted out the screen and came in and they like walked around the store a little bit, looked at the cash register, and then it looked like the alarm went off and they ran up the freezer. And that's when they knocked the hamburgers out. And broke one of the shelves in there, which is fine now. But then they came back in a little bit later and took their stuff,” said Ott, who is the Isla Vista Food Co-Op Floor Manager.
She and her colleague reported the incident to Isla Vista Foot Patrol that morning.
“What’s really helpful in this case is that there is surveillance footage available from the store. For these types of investigation, we would also survey the area and see if there's any neighboring businesses with cameras or any sort of footage,” said Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office Spokeswoman, Raquel Zick.
Surveillance footage showed a man broke in after the store closed the night before, stealing various items including a cash register that workers say was empty.
Security video showed a man in his late teens to early 20s with chin length hair.
He was wearing a dark Oakland A’s baseball cap, a brown coat with a tan liner, blue jeans and retro white Nike Dunk sneakers with a dark trim.
“For smaller businesses when they when they suffer a setback like that, it can be difficult for them to rebound,” said Zick.
Community members are shocked that someone would target a business that’s already struggling.
“And I hope that this kind of allows people to more people to see and be like, maybe I should go there. I mean, I know not maybe not steal from us, but, you know,” said Ott.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the Isla Vista Foot Patrol.