Thieves smash windows of several stores in Atlanta strip mall

ATLANTA - Thieves smashed the windows of several businesses in the Rock Springs Corner strip mall in northeast Atlanta.

Deborah Collier, a stylist at The Kids Salon, said she showed up to work on Thursday morning and found holes in the window of the shop.

She said she noticed glass in front of the other stores in the strip mall as well.

The sign reading "no cash accepted" wasn't enough to deter the criminals from trying to break into the salon.

"We have a sign that says ‘no cash.’ So it seems like that lightbulb would have gone off," Collier said.

Luckily, the thieves weren't able to completely smash the windows of the salon.

Several other businesses weren't as lucky. Collier said the criminals took off with cash from at least one of the stores.

"It's a lot of money going down the drain that a lot of businesses have to go through. I think it's kind of unnecessary," Collier said.

Most of the places that were hit, including The Kids Salon, are small, local shops. These stores were already hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic.

Collier said the salon moved to the new location in May and business has only slowly started to pick back up.

She said this isn't something they should have to deal with as they try to stay afloat.

"We're trying to make it through COVID just as everyone else is trying to make it through COVID," Collier said.