‘Staying afloat after something like this is hard:’ Mom-and-Pop business struggling after devastating burglary

TUKWILA, Wash. -- Employees of a Tukwila electronics shop are reeling after thieves made off with expensive equipment.

Shah Nawaz, the owner of Avrent,said the loss is so large that his audio and video equipment rental shop might not survive. Nawaz hopes the surveillance video that caught the crooks on camera will lead to an arrest.

The break-in happened just after sunset last Sunday. Security cameras captured the crime, showing four masked men as they pried open the front door. They soon began filling up a recycling bin with their loot.

Nawaz said his losses are in the tens of thousands of dollars.

“Between $60 to $70” thousand, he said.

His daughter Anousheh, worked the phones in the office, trying to keep as many customers happy as she could.

“To watch your father’s life work basically kind of crumble...,” she said, “And him trying to stay positive and knowing in the back of his head he’s not making it.”

After the crooks swiped the cameras, they then went after expensive projector lenses in the back room. The crime took less than two and a half minutes but the impact on the Nawaz family will last much longer.

“It's one of those things where you never think it will happen to you,” said Anousheh. “But when it does it’s hard.”

Shah Nawaz said his insurance company would likely cover only a fraction of what’s been lost so he’s hoping to recover the stolen property.

Anyone who can recognize the suspects are asked to call police.

The raw surveillance video is below: