A Santa Monica, CA, optometrist recently described the devastation her business suffered after first being forced to close due to COVID-19, then being hit by looters.
Dr. Alice Sun and her husband were at home when their alarm went off. As they watched their security video feed, “there were more than 50 people just rushed into our office, grabbing everything they can put their hands on,” she told KABC-TV.
It was a sickening scene for a practice, Sunny Optometry, that had already endured a two-month COVID-19 shutdown.
“We honestly don’t know how we’re going to come back from that,” she said, “because we still have student loans, we have office loans.”
A nearby restaurant also erupted in flames after the looting, causing smoke to fill the structure and setting off the sprinkler system, KABC reports.
On its website, the practice explains that “the office must be rebuilt from the ground up as there is very little to salvage.” The office has closed for now while repairs are being made.
Sun has set up a GoFundMe page for those wishing to help the practice rebuild.
Sunny Optometry was one of many eyecare businesses hit by looting and vandalism across the U.S. Incidents were reported in cities including Boston, San Diego and Washington, DC.
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