Police in Ferguson, Missouri, Face Gunfire During Burglary Callout

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/michael-brown-shooting/police-ferguson-missouri-face-gunfire-during-burglary-callout-n277366

[lostinblue 1,989]

That store has been looted 5-6 times this year.

“This is the third time we’ve been hit,” owner of Beauty Town told KMOV. September 24

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2014/09/24/protesters-return-to-ferguson-streets-after-michael-brown-memorial-burns/

More assassination attempts by the upstanding folks in Ferguson . Going to be an interesting year.

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

Hair products are important! Government should provide them at no cost.

[lostinblue 1,989]

RetailIamA the owner of Beauty Town Plus, located in Ferguson, MO. We were looted three times then our store burned down last week AMA (self.IAmA)

submitted

6 days ago *by beautytownstl

Hello, my name is Ellen Kim.

I am the owner of Beauty Town Plus, a beauty supply store located on 9163 W Florissant Ave, Ferguson, MO.

Our store was looted three times during the initial rioting and then burned down last week. We lost everything in the fire, and our insurance covers less than a fourth of the damages.

Were any of the people who looted and burned your store caught/arrested?

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[–]beautytownstl[S] 1257 points1258 points1259 points

6 days ago * (31 children)

We don't know, we are too busy taking care of our finances and paperwork to keep up on things like that.

Edit: After first one Police recover some merchandise returned to us. We have had Security guards drop off packs of rain-soaked hair. Apparently looters just threw away a lot of our products in back alleys.

My son is helping me type and set up this AMA as he is better with computers and English.

More details (and proof) can be found on our gofundme page:

http://www.gofundme.com/beautytown

Please spread the word, my family lost our only income and we spent most of our savings rebuilding the store after the initial looting.

Imgur album of damages:

http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/2oe6o4/iama_the_owner_of_beauty_town_plus_located_in/

[lostinblue 1,989]

How does damage like this work with your insurance? I mean you can't help where your store is located and who targeted what stores.

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[–]beautytownstl[S] 1522 points1523 points1524 points

6 days ago (456 children)

We have insurance, however it will take time to file and process the claim. Even then we lost around $500,000 in inventory, but our policy only covers $120,000.

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[–]jmdxsvhs15 752 points753 points754 points

6 days ago (407 children)

Jesus christ, this makes me so angry. I honestly assumed insurance took care of everything.

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[–]beautytownstl[S] 1510 points1511 points1512 points

6 days ago * (219 children)

You get what you pay for and our policy is from when we started our store, Because of language I could not completely understand renewal papers, did not raise my premium. That is my fault.

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[–]AdonisChrist 145 points146 points147 points

5 days ago (25 children)

That's infuriating and I'm sorry.

You should put a sign up on the wreckage informing people of just how much damage they've done to you ($380,000, that's a number that'll make most people reel)

[lostinblue 1,989]

1. Are you Korean? What was the most popular item that people stole? Why do you think your business was a target?

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   [–]beautytownstl[S] 742 points743 points744 points

   6 days ago * (64 children)

   Yes, I am a first-generation Korean immigrant.

   Edit: Mostly packs of hair, purses

   Because of location

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   [–]lboss1223 242 points243 points244 points

   6 days ago (47 children)

   ㅠㅠ 타지에서 많이 힘드시겠어요... 힘내세요 ㅠㅠ

   What businesses were near your shop? Did any of these neighboring businesses receive the amount of damages your shop did?

   [–]beautytownstl[S] 150 points151 points152 points

   6 days ago (30 children)

   Our entire building and the businesses in it were completely gutted by the fire. Pretty much everyone up and down the block had windows shattered or were broken into. However, we were probably one of the hardest hit.

   During the initial looting, police took 6 hours to arrive. People were pulling up their cars and more or less shoveling things into them.

   I believe around a dozen buildings in the city were burned down as well.

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   [–]6ft_2inch_bat 42 points43 points44 points

   6 days ago (7 children)

   Listening to the scanners that night, at least once the fire department was told to either pull back or not go due to random shots being fired by troublemakers. They (the cops) could not guarantee their safety. I am not defending the lack of response or saying you should be okay with it, it just added to the lunacy from my viewpoint. "They are even preventing people from providing aide with their (the looters) stupidity!"

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   [–]beautytownstl[S] 84 points85 points86 points

   6 days ago (2 children)

   There was a firetruck pulled up to our store as we were one of the first set on fire. We hoped they'd put it out in time, and they were chainsawing into our store. But before they got any water into the building, there were pulled back due to random shots.

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[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

Koreans. That explains it.

[lostinblue 1,989]

As in the LA riots

Koreans targeted ...by racist black folks . we were one of the first set on fire. ... Always the Koreans ... Life work ruined ..

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

As in the LA riots

Koreans targeted ...by racist black folks . we were one of the first set on fire. ... Always the Koreans ... Life work ruined ..

Rodney Kings riots, the Korean's armed themselves to protect their homes and businesses. LAPD tried to take their guns away.

[Rattlehead 69]

[decocker 7,198]

there were plenty of other nationalities/immigrants who had their 'life's work' destroyed.

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

However, you have to understand, that Koreans, like many immigrants, are the ones that run small businesses, and they usually come from groups of families that band together to open new businesses for members of that group. As one business becomes successful, they support others trying to do the same. On the same token, they rarely hire from the community at large, although there are exceptions. That builds resentment within the surrounding community, so sure, they become the first targets.

Edited December 31, 2014 by I AM NOT THAT GUY