Professional burglars target designer eyewear merchants

Police are seeking anyone who may recall suspicious activity regarding recent burglaries at two optical retailers in T.O.

Someone broke into an optometry office near Thousand Oaks Boulevard during the middle of the night last week. And an optical shop in The Oaks mall was burglarized during the night earlier in April. Both lost a significant amount of designer eyewear, and so far no one appears to have seen anything.

Nancy Hundt, part owner of Academy Optical in The Oaks mall, discovered the loss when she came in to open on Saturday morning, April 5, she said.

"They knew what to take. All the designer sunglasses--about $300,000 worth--were gone," she said.

Cases were emptied. Some glass was shattered. Hundreds of designer eyeglasses--Chanel, Gucci, Ray-Ban, Oakley, Bvlgari, Dior, Chrome Hearts and more--were gone. Fortunately, the Hundt family owners--Nancy, her mother, Ilona, and sister Diane--were insured.

The family was able to borrow frames from the two other stores they own in the area--at Westlake Promenade and Simi Valley Town Center--to help restock until they can settle with their insurance company, Nancy Hundt said.

The Oaks mall store opened with the center in 1978, she said, and this is the first time it's been burglarized. The owners just signed a 10-year lease and will be relocating near the new Nordstrom when it opens in September, Hundt said.

"I feel like evilness has touched us. I feel violated, targeted, watched."

She thinks those who burglarized the shop came in and cased the store prior to the break-in.

"We probably wished them a nice day," Hundt said.

Optometrist Miran Kim, whose office is near the Civic Arts Plaza, also said she felt violated after her business was burglarized.

After speaking with fellow optometrists and sales representatives of the designer products stolen from her, she said, she learned dozens of others who sell designer eyewear have also been burglarized.

At an optometry office nearby, staff who didn't want to be identified were concerned and on guard.

And Sandi Pearlman, an office manager in Fountain Valley, Calif., said she discovered about $300,000 worth of designer frames had been burglarized from her office when she opened on April 21. Security video cameras were turned off at 9:16 p.m. the night before, she said.

Burglars came in through a hole they cut in the roof. They left behind a 42-inch plasma screen TV and cash, she said.

"They knew exactly what to take--Prada, Ray-Ban, Oakley--expensive, high-end, no junk," she said.

Kim, already cautious after hearing about what happened at the mall, said she's now planning to take even greater security measures.

"We had gotten some suspicious calls before this happened. Someone called and asked us to tell them the types of frames we sold," Kim said.

It's not unusual to be asked about specific products such as, "Do you carry Oakley?" she said, but it is uncommon to be asked to list all the types of frames you sell.

More than frames were taken from the shop. Petty cash and the office's microwave also went out the door, Kim said.

A few months ago someone entered J.C. Penney at The Oaks and stole jewelry, said Ventura County Sheriff's Department Detective Javier Chavez. He said he doesn't think that it's related to the optical store burglary and there have been no similar crimes at the mall.

"The Optical Academy burglary was an organized job," Chavez said.

Gareth Lacy, spokesperson for the California Department of Justice, said California has recently seen an uptick in organized crime, which has been linked to eyewear thefts.

Such items are then sold on the black market, off the books and untaxed. They're sold on the Internet or at swap meets, Lacy said. They're easy to resell and can also be transported to other countries and sold, he said. "People should think before they buy something that is being sold at below wholesale prices--it could be stolen," Kim said.