A startup owner is reeling after his drone business was broken into for the second time in just a matter of months.
Owner Ben Lepoff said his store, EZ Drone in the Miramar Village Shopping Center, has been open less than two years, yet they’ve already dealt with two break-ins.
The most recent happened on Sunday, when a suspect backed a truck onto the grass out front, propped a ladder on the building, climbed to a second-story window and broke the glass with an ax, according to Lepoff.
The person then raided the store, taking custom helicopters, repair jobs and their entire stock of Go Pro cameras. Whoever was responsible apparently had extensive knowledge about the EZ Drone location.
“The building [manager] tells us that the cameras on the building were turned away by him at night,” said Lepoff, “so he walked and turned the cameras away. And then he came through a back window in the second story, so obviously no entrance way that we'd be able to protect.”
The owner said the suspect threw the goods out the window before climbing down the ladder once again, possibly breaking the equipment.
The first break-in happened months before but was much simpler, with the suspect entering through the front door.
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“It's pretty devastating. The first time wasn't that bad because there wasn't that much stolen and we kind of had prepared our store for that situation,” said Lepoff. “Obviously someone entering through a second story window you can't prepare for. This one's gonna hurt a lot worse, it's definitely going to set us back.”
Still, he said his customers have been understanding, and the building management is considering building a vault for them to store their higher-end projects.
As he deals with insurance claims and making his business more secure, Lepoff warns that if you see a cheap deal on drones or Go Pros, it may be too good to be true. If you suspect goods may be stolen from EZ Drone, Lepoff asks that you call the store at 858-751-4644.
