Two burglars break into Ballard barber shop, steal $4,000 worth of merchandise

SEATTLE - The owner of Steele Barber and Spa in Ballard is hoping somebody can identify the couple who broke in and stole $4,000 worth of Aveda products, a laptop, and multiple jackets early Saturday morning.

Both suspects appear to be white. The male suspect was wearing a blue PNW hat and was disguised as a security guard. He put duct tape on the glass of the back door and then used a slingshot to break it. The female suspect was wearing skinny jeans, loafers and glasses. They never looked up at the cameras while they spent 6 minutes inside the shop gathering up items to steal.

Matthew Humphrey said he just opened the salon this September.

"You know, this isn't just a brick and mortar. This is brick, passion, and mortar, I put 25 years of my career into building this dream of a shop and, you know, when you have someone violate that, there's an emotional consequence to me, my family, my staff, and their family," he said.

Humphrey said he loves the Ballard neighborhood and is sick of seeing small businesses like his victimized by criminals.

"Small businesses create jobs. We can't do this if we don't have a secure city and there's no consequence for crime like this and it's not a victimless crime, you know, we end up having to really work hard to try to make up that difference," he said.

He's offering free haircuts for a year to anyone who helps police identify the suspects. Crime Stoppers of Puget Sound will pay you a cash reward of up to $1,000 if you know either of their names.

Call 1-800-222-TIPS OR submit the info through the P3 Tips App on your cell phone; it is an anonymous line.