Carvel Ice Cream looted New Year’s weekend
Steve Winick, the owner of the Carvel Ice Cream shop at 1037 Santa Monica Blvd in Westwood, faced a difficult start to 2023 after his store was looted over New Year’s weekend. Photos sent by a friend revealed that five out of seven windows were shattered and the cash register had been taken – containing less than $200.
Winick, who closed the shop due to the holiday, had no way to secure the store or board up the windows following the break-in since glass companies were closed.
“I could not find anybody that would board up my store so on New Year’s Day so I had to spend the night at my store,” Winick said in a GoFundMe. The GoFundMe will help Winick file a claim since he says it will cost a $5,000 deductible to make the claim.
In an interview with Fox, Winick said the landlord had removed the security cameras and failed to replace them. This left him with no way of knowing exactly when the break-in occurred or how many people were involved. Winick hopes that by speaking out about his experience, he can raise awareness of the need for better security measures in small businesses.
What’s even more concerning is that three other businesses in the same shopping center on the 11000 block of Santa Monica Boulevard have been burglarized in recent months. Winick believes that having security cameras installed could have provided valuable leads in these cases and may even have deterred the crimes.
Fortunately, Winick’s story has had a happy ending. After the story was aired on television, a viewer who works for a window company offered to help Winick with cleanup and measurements for installation. The window company, Glasswerks, has since been able to complete the installation of a new glass window for Carvels.
