Burglars robbed two neighboring commercial businesses in the Town Center two weekends ago, exploiting the stores that did not have burglar alarms at the time. Both Dooz, a hair salon that caters to children and also sells toys, baby shower gifts and child hair products, and Yogabliss, a private yoga school, were burglarized on the night of Friday, July 25.

Lori Moll, the owner of Dooz and an Island mother of five children, said it was terrible and a bit shocking to get the call from police informing her that her business had been burglarized.

“It’s sad because who would think to steal from a kids’ hair salon?” said Moll. “They must have been desperate.”

Moll said the entire salon was a mess when she came by after police notified her around 6:30 a.m. on Saturday. She also said that she had been tending to a family emergency at the time of the burglary, which only added to her distress.

“I was actually on my way home from being in the emergency room all night with my youngest daughter and I thought the call was going to be my husband checking up on our daughter,” Moll said. “Instead, it was the police calling to tell me about the burglary. I was already emotional, thinking, ‘How much of this can we take?’”

The total loss for the two businesses exceeded $2,000 due to the additional costs for installing new locks and alarm systems, which Moll said both businesses did within days. The losses, according to Moll, were not severe, but were a major setback for her.

“It’s already hard to run a business. And it’s not only the loss of money, it’s getting the locks replaced, it’s getting an alarm system and it’s replacing the money in the cash drawer. It’s more like a $1,200 loss,” Moll said.

The burglars, who police presume to have broken into both businesses, made out with about $720 in cash between both stores. Yogabliss also had $300 in checks taken from its register. According to the police report for Yogabliss, another $300 in cash was stolen from the register, from which police were able to retrieve fingerprints.

Dooz opened over a year ago in the spring of 2007. Moll originally partnered with Islander Tim Tiscornia, who is no longer a business partner. Dooz offers cuts for children ages 2-14. The space can also be rented out for parties on Friday and Saturday evenings.

According to Moll, Yogabliss reported the crime after an instructor and class entered for their 6 a.m. Saturday session. Moll said she found her salon in a total mess, as the burglar or burglars tossed everything around looking for cash. She said she had been hiding her cash on the premises, but would no longer do so after this incident.

“It makes me a little worried, but luckily there were no employees there and nobody was hurt,” Moll said.

A separate, unrelated incident occurred when a mini ATV was stolen from the Shell station located in the 2900 block of 78th Avenue S.E., the night of July 27. The miniquadrunner was on display in the store. According to the police report, the owner suspects that an employee took off with the ATV after her shift that night. The owner also told police he suspects that the 29-year-old woman from Redmond stole $500 in cash from the till during the past month. The ATV is valued at $1,000.