Early on a Monday morning, a family-run check-cashing business in South Los Angeles was the target of a brazen burglary. According to NBC Los Angeles, a group of thieves used a van to forcefully enter the Go-Plaz Check Cashing shop around 3:00 a.m. by repeatedly smashing it into the building. The aftermath saw, as the shop owner's son Hugo Gomez shared, an estimated $60,000 in damages. This strike represents the third such event within the past two years for a business now uninsured after having its burglary policy canceled by its provider.
The economic viability of the family establishment, already hampered by a roughly 40% drop in business due to recent ICE raids and layoffs, is in jeopardy as they confront the financial weight of the damages, reported FOX LA. The previous incidents had yielded minimal coverage from insurance before the policy was dropped. Hugo Gomez explained that following a modest payout, saying, "they cancel or postpone." Recovering from this latest assault will require more than the family's resilience; they've been compelled to set up a GoFundMe to help cover the costs.
Flooring the community further is the potential collapse of a 17-year-old neighborhood cornerstone. The Go-Plaz establishment is a lifeline for many local residents, providing not only financial services but also a connection to loved ones far away through international wire transfers. "We're out here trying to help the community. A lot of people in the neighborhoods rely on us for cash or checks or send their money to their loved ones. They put us out of business. They don't only affect us, it will affect the whole community around us," Hugo Gomez told FOX LA.
The thieves' most recent intrusion left the business "completely destroyed," lamented the store owner in an interview with KTLA. The financial strain strains not one but three families tied to the small enterprise. A GoFundMe page has been established to help "alleviate repair costs for the family business," with the community rallying behind, to quickly gain support following the statement that "years of blood, sweat and sacrifice were wiped out in minutes." The van used in the burglary was abandoned at the scene, its ignition broken, hinting that it too had been stolen—a detail yet to be confirmed by LAPD, who are investigating the case and have asked anyone with information to contact the LAPD Newton Division at 323-846-6547.
