Looking Glass Photo exceeds GoFundMe goal following break-in
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Bay Area photo store Looking Glass Photo and Camera has exceeded its $50,000 fundraising goal by more than $20,000, following a disastrous break-in. On Sunday, Feb. 16, four suspects rammed a car into the storefront and then stole countless cameras and supplies, according to Jen Waicukauski, the president and CEO of Looking Glass Photo, according to a report by the local CBS News affiliate. The break-in happened despite measures taken to prevent this, including the installation of bollards on the sidewalk and a roll-down security gate. The store is located at 2239 Fifth St. in Berkeley, Calif.
According to a report in SFGate, Looking Glass is new to the location, the shop, which has been in business since 1971, had only moved to its current address in July, 2024, from a larger location on Ashby Street where it had been for a decade.
The company launched the GoFundMe campaign to:
✔ Restoring our storefront and entrance✔ Replacing broken fixtures, displays, and equipment✔ Installing a roll-up security door for added protection✔ Upgrading security measures to prevent future incidents✔ Covering operational costs to keep our team employed as we recover
Last year, thieves broke into Mike’s Camera in Pleasant Hill twice, including one burglary in which a car plowed through the storefront, KRON-TV reported. In 2022, Mike’s Dublin location was targeted by five men who held employees at gunpoint.
The same year in San Francisco, thieves took $178,000 worth of equipment from the Leica Store in Union Square, and at least one of them was armed, ABC7 (KGO-TV) reported. In 2023, thieves shot and injured an employee as they took thousands of dollars of equipment from San Jose Camera and Video in Campbell.