Anyone with information should call Seymour police at 203-881-7638.
SEYMOUR — A tattoo shop owner is offering a $1,000 reward and a $500 gift card to his store for information leading to the arrest of a man who busted into his shop Saturday.
“We’ve been here for four years, and this is the first time something like this has ever happened here,” Sacred Art Tattoo Gallery owner Steve Murzin said.
The break-in, during which a thief kicked in the door at 39 New Haven Road at 1:25 a.m. Saturday, was captured on video.
The video is different from traditional surveillance videos because it contains clear audio. The burglar provides a narrative, speaking his thoughts aloud after he kicks the door in. It’s a blunt look into the desperate mindset of a petty criminal.
The video is embedded below, but viewers should be warned there is offensive language throughout.
The thief took off with $5,000 and a high-end Nikon camera.
Murzin was alerted of the break-in via his phone and called police. He shared the video with police. Seymour Police Chief Paul Satkowski said Monday the incident is under investigation, and evidence is being sent to the lab for processing.
Murzin’s wife Kim shared the video with The Valley Indy, which Murzin posted on YouTube in hopes of someone recognizing the thief.
In the video, the thief is seen busting down the shop’s front door, and immediately running across the floor to a desk at the front of the shop. He is wearing a baseball hat, a hooded sweatshirt jacket and a face mask, (around his chin) and no gloves.
He picks up what appears to be a camera bag and slings it over his shoulder. At one point, the thief exits the front door and comes back in, picking up busted pieces of the door frame and throwing them onto a couch in the studio.
A few minutes into the five-minute video, the thief looks at his phone, and apparently receives a text message. He disappears from the video, and goes into another room, off camera. He’s heard making a lot of noise allegedly rummaging through some cash boxes. He leaves that room with something in his hand and makes a quick exit out the front door.
Murzin said while he didn’t recognize the thief, he believes he was being “coached” by the person who sent the text, and that person was likely familiar with the shop, and alerted the thief to where cash might be.
Murzin said some of the lock boxes his employees use to safeguard cash were unfortunately not locked, making them easy prey for the thief.
“What kills me is I try to be good to everyone,” Murzin said. “We’re a family business, my wife and two of my daughters work here.”
Murzin is hopeful police can track down the thief, especially because he wasn’t wearing gloves “and there are prints everywhere,” he said.
The shop’s main door will need to be replaced, Murzin said, but other than the stolen cash and Nikon camera estimated to be worth $1,000, the shop didn’t sustain any other damage.
If anyone has information they are asked to call Seymour Police Detective Bureau at 203 – 881-7638. Murzin can be reached at 203 – 828-6326.
