Love Connection adult retail store located at 8244 Santa Monica Blvd, had a window smashed this past Saturday night in West Hollywood. Owner Ron Arouas reports that this is the fourth attack in the past several weeks where vandals have tried to smash the store’s windows.
In one instance, video footage dated October 12, shows an employee being hit in the back with what turned out to be a marble while he was closing the store at 11:09 p.m. “I think it was destined for one of my windows and it hit my employee,” Arouas told WEHO TIMES. “He thought he got shot.”
‘He Thought He Got Shot’ – Vandals have targeted Love Connection adult retail store in West Hollywood four times in the past weeks. Owner believes the WeHo business is a target for being Israeli owned. #wehotimes #wehonews #weho #westhollywood https://t.co/8ySLRYHPw4 pic.twitter.com/zXLtmnyzd9
— WEHO TIMES (@WEHO_TIMES) November 21, 2023
A second instance happened on October 30, at 2:08 p.m. “I was doing a day shift and I heard a thud up against the building,” he said. “I ran outside and saw a rock rolling back into the street that bounced off of my wall. At that point, I was like, ‘wow, somebody’s really targeting the business.'”
He says a couple nights later, the business next door had their window smashed. He believes the rock was aimed at them, but the vandal missed.
He points out that other businesses have been targeted nearby, like the West Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, which is less than a block away. The WeHo Chamber’s glass door was broken and is currently boarded up.
Video footage on October 30, at 2:08 p.m., shows a phone charger being thrown at the window. He said he was hoping the sheriff’s could fingerprint the charger, but he was told that there were not enough resources to fingerprint an item unless in involved a homicide.
Arouas says he deals with shoplifters, the unhoused, and individuals who act out sexually in his store, but these recent attacks are different and smack of sort of hate crime.
“It seems like I’m being targeted quite a bit,” he said. “It keeps coming back to my window. It happened four times. I’m of Israeli descent. I have Israeli tattoos on me, and I work every day during the day. I don’t know if that’s related but I have the feeling. Why else would somebody just target my store? Circus of Books is two doors down and their windows are huge. Like you can’t miss those. You know what I mean? I just feel like all my windows are going to be gone by the end of this weekend.”
Love Connection first opened in West Hollywood in 2004. Arouas co-owns the store with his mother who is also Jewish.
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West Hollywood Sheriff’s Station polices the City of West Hollywood and the unincorporated communities of Franklin Canyon, Universal City (which includes Universal Theme Park, Studios, and Citywalk), and the Federal Enclave in West Los Angeles.
This is just pathetic. I hope the sheriff’s department is giving them some added security. There is too much criminal activity happening in Weho.
I’m upset to hear about this vandalism I very much enjoy going to the store and getting my rocks off behind the sales racks with the other customers