At a place that’s felt like a home for workers and customers, there's shock someone would break into Peter’s Unisex Hairstyling in Hartford and snatch the very things that have helped keep it buzzing for decades.
“It’s like you have a knife and stab you in the heart,” said Peter Tsakiris, owner of Peter’s Unisex Hairstyling.
Shop staff say surveillance video from a neighboring store appears to show a burglar pushing in an air conditioner last Wednesday.
Later, they’d allegedly climb through and ransack the business on Maple Avenue.
Get top local stories in Connecticut delivered to you every morning. >Sign up for NBC Connecticut's News Headlines newsletter.
“We thought we were going to be out of business for awhile because we didn’t have no tools. We had to cancel a lot of appointments,” said Leo Negron, a barber at Peter’s.
Police say more than $10,000 worth of items were taken, including scissors and clippers.
Tsakiris has owned the shop since 1965 and has been in this location since 1993.
Local
“The more I looked, the more I was getting upset the way they did it,” said Tsakiris.
Customers tell us the 80-year-old – who says he is not ready to retire - has a heart of gold. Some items swiped were expensive and sentimental.
“Stealing from people that work hard and make a living off of this, it’s crazy,” said Randy Ojeda of Manchester.
Heartbreak soon began to heal a little.
“We’re here. We’re not going nowhere. We’re going to keep serving the community,” said Negron.
Community members and other barbers stepped up to help with donations of equipment and starting an online fundraiser.
“Hopefully we get some of our tools and get back to our feet,” said Tsakiris.
The owner said they haven’t had a break-in before, but there have been others in the area.
The owner said thankfully, this was not worse. No one was hurt and none of the glass front windows and door were smashed.
Police describe the suspect as a man wearing a dark-colored winter jacket with fur on the hood, a light-colored hooded sweatshirt, a fitted style hat, light colored pants and dark colored sneakers.
