{"id":75310,"date":"2025-11-30T07:50:12","date_gmt":"2025-11-30T07:50:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/75310\/"},"modified":"2025-11-30T07:50:12","modified_gmt":"2025-11-30T07:50:12","slug":"burglars-ransack-south-los-angeles-barbershop-kidnap-beloved-cat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/75310\/","title":{"rendered":"Burglars ransack South Los Angeles barbershop, kidnap beloved cat"},"content":{"rendered":"

Surveillance video captured burglars ramming into a South Los Angeles barbershop and escaping with thousands of dollars worth of tools and equipment, along with the owner\u2019s beloved cat.<\/p>\n

On Nov. 27, the suspects pulled up to LA Fresh Cuts at 1807 E. Florence Avenue in a beige Toyota pickup truck around 2:30 a.m. on Thanksgiving morning.<\/p>\n

With the truck in reverse, the driver rams into the storefront, shattering the glass door, windows and walls.<\/p>\n

Seconds later, three masked men exit the truck and quickly run inside the barber shop. The trio ransacked the place, grabbing any tools they could find including clippers, scissors, chargers and more.<\/p>\n

\"Surveillance<\/p>\n

Surveillance video captured three burglars ramming into a South Los Angeles barbershop and escaping with thousands of dollars in cash and equipment along with kidnapping the owner\u2019s cat on Nov. 27, 2025. (LA Fresh Cuts)<\/p>\n

\"Joe<\/p>\n

Joe Gomez\u2019s cat, Simba, is seen inside his kennel on the back of the burglars\u2019 truck on Nov. 27, 2025. (LA Fresh Cuts)<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The storefront of LA Fresh Cuts was destroyed after the burglars rammed their truck into the glass doors and windows. (KTLA)<\/p>\n

\"Joe<\/p>\n

Joe Gomez, owner of LA Fresh Cuts, speaks to KTLA on Nov. 29, 2025. (KTLA)<\/p>\n

\"Joe<\/p>\n

Joe Gomez\u2019s cat, Simba, is the barbershop\u2019s unofficial mascot who greets customers daily. (LA Fresh Cuts)<\/p>\n

\"Devoted<\/p>\n

Devoted clients are stopping by LA Fresh Cuts to support owner Joe Gomez during this tough time. (KTLA)<\/p>\n

\"Over<\/p>\n

Over $6,000 worth of barber tools were stolen by the burglars. (KTLA)<\/p>\n

\"Joe<\/p>\n

Joe Gomez\u2019s cat, Simba, is the barbershop\u2019s unofficial mascot who greets customers daily. (LA Fresh Cuts)<\/p>\n

They even grabbed a kennel containing the owner\u2019s beloved cat, Simba, before hastily placing the caged animal onto the truckbed and driving away.<\/p>\n

The shop\u2019s owner, Joe Gomez, said he\u2019s beyond devastated that his cat was kidnapped.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I saw the video, it was Simba I was looking at the whole time,\u201d he said. \u201cI didn\u2019t even care about the inventory they were throwing in the truck. It was just my cat, how he was acting and how they were treating him. That\u2019s what got me the most.\u201d<\/p>\n

The beloved Savannah cat is the barber shop\u2019s unofficial mascot who greets customers daily.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just devastating,\u201d Gomez told KTLA\u2019s Jillian Smukler. \u201cIt sucks.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gomez said the estimated cost of repairs and stolen tools is over $13,000. Despite the big setback, he said he doesn\u2019t plan to stop working and serving his clients.<\/p>\n

Customers who heard of the break-in said they were eager to support Gomez during this tough time, with many coming in for a haircut.<\/p>\n

His commitment to the local community goes beyond the barbershop. Next door to the shop is a small boxing gym he opened up, with the hope that it could become a place for kids and teens to train and stay out of trouble.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a bad neighborhood and I\u2019m trying to prevent these kids from doing what these [burglars] did to me on Thanksgiving,\u201d Gomez said.<\/p>\n

As the case remains under investigation by the Los Angeles County Sheriff\u2019s Department, Gomez said he\u2019s just hoping to get his Simba back safe and unharmed.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat really is all I care about,\u201d he said. \u201cHe\u2019s a family member. They kidnapped a family member.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gomez said he will continue working and keep his shop open because it\u2019s his main source of income at this time.<\/p>\n

A GoFundMe page to support Gomez\u2019s rebuilding efforts can be found here.<\/a><\/p>\n

Anyone with information on the break-in can call the LASD at 323-820-6700.<\/p>\n

Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.<\/p>\n

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTLA. <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Surveillance video captured burglars ramming into a South Los Angeles barbershop and escaping with thousands of dollars worth…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":75311,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[16615,43771,43770,4407,48,43769,52,51,47,50,49,2088],"class_list":["post-75310","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles","tag-barbershop","tag-beloved-cat","tag-joe-gomez","tag-ktla","tag-la","tag-la-fresh-cuts","tag-la-headlines","tag-la-news","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-headlines","tag-los-angeles-news","tag-south-los-angeles"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75310","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=75310"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75310\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/75311"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=75310"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=75310"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=75310"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}