Break-In At Art Trooper Leaves Estimated $500 in Damages

While the kids projects were left untouched, a thief broke into in late Sunday evening, leaving behind an estimated $500 in damages.

Owner Ann Deuser said she came in on Monday, even though the shop was closed, to check on the kiln and found her cash register gone and the back door handle broken.

"I'm angry," she said. "As a merchant and a retailer, you work so hard for so little money. And then to have someone come in and take what very little money you make..."

When she came to the store, she found the back door handle had been broken and not just the cash, but the whole register was missing. Deuser said because the register is so heavy, she doesn't believe this was done by kids. 

"It's like a safe. I can't really move it more than four feet," she said. "So whoever had the power to break into my back door, these weren't kids. This was somebody who knew what they were doing and had a lot of strength." 

She said she's not afraid necessairly, mostly just angry and more cautious now. However, her larger fear is that parents won't feel it's safe to bring their kids to the do-it-yourself art studio. So not only has she replaced the locks, but she's updated the security system, pushing up her total loss estimate to nearly $500, even though the register only had about $50 in it, mostly in change. 

"Now, I'm thinking of ways to booby trap the door," Deuser said with a laugh. 

The only other damage was a broken shelf, but she said thankfully, none of the projects were damaged. 

took fingerprints and Deuser said one officer in particular made a world of difference. 

"Officer Chirstopher Suarez was wonderful," she said. "He was the best to deal with and he made me feel so much better." 

So while she says she'll be making fewer trips into the shop at odd hours, just to be safe, she's definitely more cautious now. 

"I'll be more aware now," she said. "I'm just going to be very careful."