Alarm prevented woman from taking any cash

BREAK-IN

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$40 to $200.”

She also stole a designer vintage purse and a rack of custom vintage jewelry.

“It was our most expensive little rack that my one sales girl was in charge of. Her specialty is rare vintage. It’s to the left of the store by the door on the way out. She took the whole rack.”

Plus, she took a small jewelry hand-size ceramic box. “She knew exactly where it was because she went back for it.”

The woman didn’t have time to grab any cash because the alarm was sounding, and police were on their way, Ms. Bernardi said.

Apparently, the thief had tried to push the store door open about 1:30 a.m., “and even though she broke everything wasn’t able to enter,” Ms. Bernardi said. “The alarm went off and she left. About 20 minutes later she saw that the police weren’t coming. So she went back and broke the glass, reached in and got inside.”

Ms. Bernardi was on vacation in Hawaii when her alarm system sounded at her Santa Barbara store, and she got a message from it on her phone.

“I thought it must have been a mistake,” she said. “I phoned the SB Police Department. They told me that Santa Barbara was having 60 miles-an-hour winds and that about 10 other alarms had gone off around town. He said they had limited police on duty and that they would confirm with me after they checked my store out.

“About a half hour later, the police officer phoned me and told me that he was at my location, and, yes, there was evidence that I had been robbed. So he secured the scene.”

She did not cut her vacation short, depending instead on her “very reliable” employees to hold down the fort until she got back home.

“I phoned my employee and had him go down to meet the police in the middle of the night, seal the broken glass and lock up as best he could … until the carpenter went the next day and fixed things up temporarily.”

The monetary loss of the stolen items was bad enough, but the cost to repair the extensive damage to the door was expensive as well, she said.

“The door has been fixed temporarily. The glass has been put in. But it may have to be replaced altogether, she said.

“I have insurance, but I haven’t talked to them yet, and I don’t know if I’m covered.”

She wasn’t.

In an email sent later to the News-Press, she said she subsequently learned that her insurance doesn’t cover theft. Only liability.

“Turns out I’m only covered if someone falls or hurts themselves,” she said. “So it’s a total loss for me.”

She ended up having to pay the carpenter herself.

This latest example of shoplifting is not unique in the fact that it occurred, just that it happened the way it did, she said.

“We have shoplifters all the time! I don’t know why I spend the money on security that I do because people can steal up to $950 worth of merchandise, and there is nothing you can do about it. People shoplift all the time from us.

“Once I had a couple on camera walk out with tons of things stuffed into their pants and in their backpacks, and there was nothing I could do about it because they didn’t steal enough. Had them on camera and everything! We have signs all over the store that say, ‘Stealing is bad karma.’” This time it’s different, however.

“We have beat the $950 (minimum), and if caught, she can face charges!” Ms. Bernardi said.

“People think that because I’m in a thrift store, I get everything for free. But I don’t just order merchandise somewhere to resell.

I go out there with a 10-by-10 truck and two to four men.

“We pick up whole households sometimes,” she continued. “I have to pay them, store everything in very expensive storages, sort through everything, tag and price, pay for employees, rent, insurance and endless taxes and fees that go on and on. Nothing is free!!!!”

Ms. Bernardi said that’s why she’s hoping this particular thief is caught. “I believe there has to be consequences only because I don’t want my store to be a revolving door for thieves.”

“But otherwise I just pity these people. I’m sad! I know the problem arises from so many other issues. I feel compassion and lots of sadness. Most of all, I’m glad no one got hurt.”

Despite the traumatizing experience, Ms. Bernardi remains undaunted. She’s already restocked the store’s shelves and reopened for business as usual.

“The best support that we can have from the community is to come shop,” she said. email: nhartsteinnewspress@ gmail.com treatment. The lieutenant governor was acting as the state’s governor because Gov. Gavin Newsom was not at the state house. He was touring the Diablo Canyon Power Plant in Avila Beach, according to the governor’s office -- about 300 miles from Sacramento.