Markeshia Ricks Photo
It’s Karaoke Day, owner Greg “Chanz” Simpkins announced in his Headz Up Barber Shop: Everyone should take turns singing — now that someone had made off with the surround-sound system.
Large flat screen showing sports and the occasional kid-friendly program normally dominate the walls at Headz Up. Not this week. The shop was far quieter than usual.
That’s because just three days before Christmas, at least four people drove up to the front of the Whalley Avenue shop, pried open the front door and stole all the televisions, 70 pairs of hair clippers, and barber’s chairs and floor mats. They also stole the shop’s office computer, stereo system and destroyed the video surveillance system.
Simpkins (pictured at the top of the story) didn’t learn of the burglary until a police detective called him at in the wee hours of the morning Dec. 22 to tell him that his safe had been found in the middle of Chapel and James streets in Fair Haven. The safe, which had been hit by a car, should have been in the barber shop.
It turns out Headz Up was not the first New Haven barber shop, or the last, to be hit by a band of robbers with a taste for high-end electronics and barber equipment.
Contributed Photo
The scene of the crime.
“It was all torn up in here,” he said. “They took about $20,000 worth. The clippers alone are about $7,800, and my chairs are $1,100 piece. They took two chairs. They took a lot of stuff that only barbers have.”
Simpkins has owned the shop since 2009; he’d never had anyone steal or break in before. The burglary closed the shop for about two and a half days. Though the business is back open, it is still trying to recover.
“I feel like it must be someone who has been in here before,” Simpkins said. “We’re a big shop and we get a lot of different people and we know a lot of people, so I don’t think it was anyone from this area.”
Going Big
About a week before the Headz Up burglary, the same people, police believe, broke into the Sharper Edge barber shop, which also is on Whalley Avenue. They got in by prying open a side door, said co-owner Arthur White (pictured above). Sgt. Manmeet Colon, head of the police robbery and burglary division, said that the door was possibly pried open with a crowbar that was recovered near the door.
Burglars got away with three 50-inch televisions, a stereo surround system, 30 pairs of clippers, a desktop computer,a six-tower CD burner, a laptop, a Tablet, two huge speakers, five watches, camera and camcorder.
White said his shop has been open for about a year, and he’d never had a problem with crime before. The burglary shut down the shop for about a day. Even now there are stations with missing clippers and no televisions.
“I just feel violated and disrespected,” said White, who employs six other barbers.
Photo Courtesy of New Haven Police
Police believe that the same burglars hit a third barbershop, Del Patio Barbershop, which is located in the Hill neighborhood on Kimberly Avenue. They broke in through a rear metal door on Dec. 24 and used a white box-truck to haul away nearly everything in the shop . Simpkins said he saw the aftermath at that shop: “They cleaned his shop out. It looked like a brand new shop it was so empty.”
Prior to the burglary, Simpkins said, he didn’t know White. They’ve gotten to know each other since and are working together to spread awareness about what happened in hopes that someone knows something that might help police catch the people responsible. They also are working with the third owner to put together a reward for information leading to an arrest.
White said it feels good to know that another business owner is looking out for him and that he can do the same.
“It makes me feel a little safer knowing that if anyone comes into his shop trying to sell anything, or that if anyone comes in here trying to do the same we will let each other know what’s going on,” he said.
Example of the white box truck that police are looking for in connection to the string of robberies of barber shops.
Sgt. Colon said given the time frame of the burglaries, police believe that they are all connected. Police are on the lookout for a white Dodge Caravan and a white-box truck like those used for commercial moving jobs, because both types of vehicles were seen in the area around the time of each of the burglaries. A detective also has been assigned to monitor pawnshop activities. Anyone with information that could lead to arrest can contact Colon at 203 – 946-6307.
That is so sad. These shops not only serve the local community, but they typically employ local barbers. The owners themselves are more than likely local folks that have worked hard to carve out a place for themselves in the business world to take care of themselves and family. I encourage anyone who has information to please cooperate with the police so that these folks can possibly recover their stuff. And good luck to you all in restoring your businesses.