A San Gabriel Valley business is struggling to recover after vandals broke into their parking lot and caused thousands of dollars in damage over the weekend.
The break-in at Pink Sponge Home Cleaning service in Glendora occurred in the early morning hours of April 20. Surveillance footage on the rooftop parking lot showed at least three teens wreaking havoc, one of whom was blasting off a fire extinguisher while the other two twerked on the hood of one of the company’s 25 bright pink fleet of Volkswagen Bugs.
“They kicked in every headlight they could,” Jennifer Ahlgrim with Pink Sponge Cleaning told KTLA’s Sandra Mitchell. “They pulled down the windows so hard, they broke the regulators. They carved on the hoods of cars.”
The teens left a giant mess in their wake, causing some $25,000 in damage.
“They tore open a door and threw products over the side of the building. It was disgusting,” Ahlgrim said.
According to the company, which prides itself on giving back to the community, 18 of their vehicles were badly damaged.
“I couldn’t understand how someone could do something like this to a company that’s trying to do good,” Ahlgrim said. “It just doesn’t make sense.”
A 15-year-old from La Verne has been arrested in connection with the break-in after police linked gang symbols carved into some of the cars to the juvenile suspect. Authorities are using the teen’s cellphone to search for the two other suspects, who are believed to be teenage girls.
“We built everything from the ground up, so to see our hard work vandalized was just completely disheartening,” Ahlgrim explained. “Our Pink Sponge team is strong, but It’s been very sad.”
The company’s co-founder said their insurance claim was denied due to previous vandalism incidents. A GoFundMe campaign has been launched to assist the business with repair costs and the loss of supplies.
