LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Jennifer Bryant has a lot of patience – she has to run a pet grooming business for as long as she has.
"Opened up since'05, I moved to this strip mall in '07," she said, standing outside her shop, Doggie Do's in Little Rock.
Last week, that patience was tested more than it ever has been before.
"We had three individuals pull up to Buffalo Wild Wings, parked their truck and their trailer, come around the fence and choose which air conditioner units they wanted," Bryant said. "It's absolutely a gut punch, I mean, it just makes me angry."
Damage is easy to spot. Broken cords and empty slabs litter the back of the shopping center where her shop is.
"We're not Walmart, I mean, we're not Petsmart," Bryant said, walking past the spot where her A/C unit used to be. "This is a mom and pop shop."
Her neighbors have surveillance cameras pointed at the alley. In the videos shown to THV11, you can see multiple people walking around the back of the building early Thursday morning.
Then, a tan pick-up truck pulls around and through the alley, with what looks like A/C units on a trailer.
Bryant's shop has been closed, as she said it's too hot for her staff or the pets they groom to be inside.
"I will not allow a dog to be in my shop, if I can't keep it below 72 degrees with all of us working," she said.
Also a concern for her – her staff.
"It hits me on so many levels, and we do have like, loss of wage insurance," she said. "They will be compensated, but how long does that take to pay out?"
Bryant's hope is to have things back up by the end of the week. Until then, her shop sits empty and quiet – a reminder of the cruelty of thieves.
"Heartbreaking, I mean, I see the money that I've lost, I see the money that I'm gonna have to spend, I see the money that my employees have lost," Bryant said. "I see their struggles, I mean, it's just, it's terrible."
We've reached out to LRPD for more information.