A tight cluster of small businesses along Alamo Heights' Broadway strip is on edge after a run of burglaries hit at least four shops this month, including two barbershops and a wellness bar. Owners say limited-edition clippers and other tools were swiped straight from cutting chairs, while security video shows suspects smashing windows and digging through cash registers. The mini crime wave has neighbors and shopkeepers openly questioning how secure a neighborhood they once saw as largely insulated from this sort of thing really is.
Barbershops Among The Targets
Alamo Heights police say the string of break-ins includes Clippers Barber Shop, hit on June 15 after someone pushed in a glass pane at the bottom of the front door, and JB’s Barbershop on Austin Highway, where the owner reported that all of the shop’s clippers were taken, according to KSAT. Investigators say a separate burglar also smashed large windows at a beauty salon and at The DRIPBaR, and that cash was taken from a register.
Julian Orosco, who works at Clippers, told KSAT that surveillance footage shows "a skinny short man with some Nike Shox" who "doesn't care" about being on camera. Among the items taken, he said, was a limited-edition clipper that is not easily replaced. Michael Nelson, regional wellness director for The DRIPBaR, shared video that appears to show a man dressed in black kicking in a window and rummaging through the till. "We had money stolen out of our till," Nelson told KSAT. As of Friday afternoon, police had not made any arrests, according to the station.
Police Advice And Wider Patterns
Some local business owners say the break-ins feel like part of a broader uptick in property crimes this year. In January, a separate spree targeted multiple Great Clips salons across the San Antonio area, as reported by the San Antonio Express-News. The Alamo Heights cases are not described as directly connected, but for shopkeepers who rely on every clipper and every cash drawer, the pattern feels uncomfortably familiar.
The Alamo Heights Police Department is urging businesses to stay vigilant, lock doors, reinforce entry points, and secure high-value tools and cash when shops are closed. Anyone with information about the recent burglaries is asked to contact the department, with contact details listed on the City of Alamo Heights website.
