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Burglar Cuts Through 3 Business' Walls To Get Inside Smoke Shop

CITRUS HEIGHTS (CBS13) - Three business owners in Citrus Heights were left to clean up the mess left from a burglar who cut through their walls to get what they were after.

"We are just worried -- all of us -- it's not safe anymore to shop," said Sally Sarabizadeh, alterations store owner.

During the night, a burglar climbed the roof of a strip mall and broke in through a skylight above a vacant business. But that empty store was not the cheese they were after. It was only an obstacle, and the next one was Linda Peck's cosmetic shop.

"They couldn't get through the cabinet and so they came down through the ceiling, and obviously you can see the holes into the smoke shop," said Linda Woods of Permanent Cosmetics Clinic, Etc.

Police won't say what was taken from the shop, but the hole through Woods' wall leads to the register and a room full of pipes. Woods says she isn't worried about the damage, but the clients she had to turn away.

"It's not about the money, it's about how good they feel about themselves, so I had to reschedule nine people today -- and here I'm tearing up," said Woods.

A sign in the front of the strip mall tells people not to loiter, but in fact, that's exactly what one man have been doing, according to a hair dresser.

"Because of the vantage point from my chair I can see what goes on and a young man walked back here and hung out for a few seconds and walked away," said Tori Pach, hairdresser.

Pach recognized that same man on the surveillance video.

"I definitely had a feeling from him and that's why I was telling the police officer, 'I said I wish I would have done something last night,'"

Police have not yet caught the burglar.

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