Lynnwood thrift store broken into 3 times within 10 days, hindering mission to save pets’ lives

LYNNWOOD, Wash. — It’s so much more than a thrift store: all of their proceeds go directly to helping your pets when they get sick or injured. 

But a founder of Bella’s Voice in Lynnwood says they are sick and tired of cleaning up the damage, after being broken into three times in the past 10 days. 

In the first break-in, electronics were stolen and the glass door at the back of the shop was shattered.

“And then the second one, they actually removed the board,” said co-founder Camille Ovena. “From here, they used a crowbar and removed the board. And then we got more wood made it more sturdy, so it wouldn’t happen again.”

The second break-in caught video of suspects lifting the wood, entering the business, and walking around. Police responded when the alarm went off. At that point, the two suspects were arrested, according to Lynnwood Police Department.

Bella’s Voice staff thought their nightmare was over, but they were wrong. The third break-in was around 7 a.m. Wednesday morning, Feb. 21.

“There was a white truck that pulled up at like 11 o’clock at night. A guy got out of the car, broke our glass with the other door and then they took off. And then it looks like they came back,” said Ovena. “It was a gentleman. Came back and walked right through the door and, again, stole the electronics that were up here and then went over to our pricing station and stole our our laptop as well.”

Ovena said she thinks the first and third burglaries may be from the same suspect, for a couple reasons: first, police said the suspects from the second break-in were still in jail. Secondly, she said the suspects’ behaviors in the first and third break-ins seem similar.

“They both broke the glass, crawled through, grabbed the electronics up here,” she said. “Ten laptops, tablets, stuff like that. But they were all donation, so … it hurt a little more today, because we spent $500 on the on the laptop for it to be stolen.”

In their Lynnwood neighborhood, Snohomish County Crime Data shows there have been 25 commercial burglaries so far this year, which is on pace with the same timeframe last year.

But that doesn’t take away from the strain this puts on a worthy mission.

“It’s not fair for us. It’s not fair for the animals,” said Ovena. 

A frequent donor and shopper of the thrift store said he is furious for them.

“They make a huge impact on everyone,” Randy Myers said of thrift shop staff. “This lady, where her dog had to have a massive, $4,700 surgery and she couldn’t afford it, and they covered all of it.”

All the proceeds of Bella’s Voice go to helping the community’s pets and animals. The store is 100% donation-based.

Ovena said if they’re lucky, they’ll face $1,500 in costs to fix the damages after they hear back from insurance. The community is coming together on a crowdfunding platform to support the store in their clean-up and repair efforts.