Los Angeles police are looking for two men who stole an ATM in broad daylight downtown on Thursday.
A security camera recorded the theft, which occurred near MariGold Dresses on Olympic Boulevard and Santee Street, according to KTLA.
“A white SUV operated by a masked individual and a subsequent masked passenger pulled the vehicle onto a sidewalk in front of a business and stole an ATM machine in broad daylight about an hour ago,” the LAPD said in a social media post.
Zoila Barrales, the shop owner, told KTLA that customers watched as the men backed their vehicle onto the sidewalk next to the store.
“We had customers. There was a family here with a little girl,” she said. “My employees told them, ‘Go inside.’ So they put all the customers that were here inside fitting rooms because you just never know.”
Video of the incident showed a man dressed in all black with a black face mask enter the store after the SUV backs into it, then reenter the vehicle and leave moments later.
Given the recent wave of vandalism that hit downtown from protests and ongoing immigration raids, the incident has frayed nerves even more, Barrales said.
“With all that’s going on, honestly this just adds a little bit more to the fear that people have right now,” she told KTLA.
Detectives are looking for any evidence to help identify the suspects.
“Anyone with cellphone video or surveillance video is asked to call Central Division Robbery Detectives,” the department’s social media post said.
