HOUSTON – Two thieves were captured on camera stealing from Houston’s Finest Smoking Tattoo late Sunday night.
“I’m angry, I’m hurt, I’m mad, I’m pissed,” said Manuel Garcia, the owner of the shop located in the 8100 block of Southwest Freeway.
Garcia said the thieves broke a lock and chain on a fence, then shut the electricity off completely before breaking through the back door of his business. A backup camera captured them inside the building.
He said the thieves left with six tattoo machines, iPads, a desktop computer, sodas from the fridge, and money from his register.
He estimates the break-in cost him at least $10,000. He called the police around 11 a.m. Monday morning when he discovered what happened.
“The police haven’t come. I called them three or four times. They told me they are not going to come until the next shift,” Garcia said.
With a wife and 10 kids, Garcia had to bottle up his emotions and get back to work using a borrowed machine, he said he needs the money. The business owner survived the pandemic and 14 years in prison. Now he’s praying to bounce back from this major setback.
“I can’t give up. My wife, she was telling me earlier, because I got mad and I’ve been having a lot of bad luck this week, she told me earlier, ‘Babe, just don’t give up,’” he said.