Twerking vandals cause $25K in damage to California business
GLENDORA, Calif. (KTLA) - A San Gabriel Valley business is struggling after vandals broke into their parking lot, spent some time twerking atop their vehicles 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 of the rooftop parking lot showed at least three teens wreaking havoc, one who was blasting off a fire extinguisher and another two who were twerking on the hood of one of the company’s bright pink fleet of 25 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 caused some $25,000 in damage on their rampage and left a giant mess.
“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.”
One of the teens, a 15-year-old from La Verne, is now in custody in connection with the break-in. Police said that gang symbols carved onto some of the cars led them to the juvenile suspect.
Authorities added that they have the 15-year-old's cell phone and are hoping to use it to find the two teen girls who were involved in the break-in.
“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 co-founder of the company told KTLA that their insurance claim was denied because they had been vandalized before.
A GoFundMe has been organized to help the business with the cost of repairs and the loss of many of its supplies.