An audacious burglary hit the heart of Adams Morgan earlier this week when a thief tunneled through a brick wall into Le Liquor and Le Jewelry, absconding with merchandise valued at more than $100,000. The break-in, discovered on Wednesday morning, stunned owner Tam Le who found his establishment in disarray. As per FOX 5, the suspect burrowed into the store from a neighboring vacant restaurant that was under renovation.
Reflecting on the chaos, Le conveyed a sense of disbelief to DC News Now, “Jumbled, shocked. I couldn’t even process all of it.” Surveillance footage revealed the suspect made their entrance at approximately 5:30 a.m., after what Le believes was several hours of laborious work to breach the establishment. The act of vandalism has only magnified the vulnerability of small businesses, as recent previous attempts have already heightened security concerns.
A neighbor reported hearing noises around 2 a.m., coming from the adjacent building, indicating that meticulous tunneling was underway during these hours. The burglar utilized tools left in this adjoining building, making way through 2 to 3 feet of brick separating the structures, as NBC Washington notes.
In the aftermath of the incident, Le has been left to grapple with the implications of such a heist on his livelihood. "There's no way to survive something like that when they've just taken all of your inventory out," he told NBC Washington. Thirty years of business stand threatened by a single, albeit calculated, act of theft.
