CLEVELAND (WJW) — A bold smash-and-grab caught on store surveillance video shows a man behind the wheel of a U-Haul accelerate in reverse, slamming into a beauty supply store and punching a moving van-sized hole through the wall.
It happened at Beauty Plus in Cleveland, Ohio around 5 a.m. Tuesday. Video shows a man wearing a white coverall walk inside, break into the cash register and pull out the money. As he attempts to get away, he stumbles and falls over the mess of hair products and shelving knocked all over the floor. The ATM inside the store is left untouched.
“Shock, I see the hole, the hair, everything is on the floor…it takes us one day to clean up,” said store manager Alex Abdullah.
Thursday, the damage was still being repaired. The store owner did not share with management how much was stolen. Construction crews on site estimated rebuilding the brick wall would cost $10,000 dollars. Abe Hamed, the owner of United Construction Management called the amount of damage from the smash-and-grab unusual.
“It’s a little harder for everybody to make ends meet and they’re getting a little more desperate, so I think you’re going to see a lot more of these,” said Hamed.
A few minutes after the smash-and-grab occurred, the video shows another man walking through the hole in the wall to grab a handful of items before police arrived.
Abdullah said the store was the victim of crime before, but nothing compared to a U-Haul plowing through the wall.