‘There is no end to it’: Lincoln vape shop owner frustrated by frequent burglaries

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) – A Lincoln vape shop lost thousands in a string of burglaries and police still haven’t made any arrests.

The Highest Cloud, located near 48th and Fremont Streets, is on its fourth front door in one month after three burglaries.

“The first time, it was just kind of a nuisance,” said Anthony Delgado, the owner. “The second time, it was like, ‘Dang, really, again?’ and the third time, I really have no words for it because it just feels like there is no end to it and we’re just a victim.”

In the first burglary on Feb. 11, two people smashed the front door, took around $500 of merchandise and caused over $500 more in damage.

Less than three weeks later, on March 2, video surveillance cameras caught a duo using a steel fence post to break the door again.

Burglars stole around $100 in merchandise and caused over $500 in damage.

Only nine days after that, the store was targeted yet again for the third time on March 11, with the burglars causing over $1,000 in damages.

“It’s really jarring and hurtful,” Delgado said. “Being woken up at about 3:45, 4 a.m. to rush down to the shop as quick as we possibly can to find it smashed in and just things thrown all about. It really hurts the heart. Makes you want to cry, to be honest.”

Delgado said it may be the same pair who have broken in on all three occasions, but police haven’t identified them at this time.

“I believe it’s young kids wanting the vapes and D8 products sadly,” he said. “They’re not of age and they probably don’t have the money.”

He said luckily, no one has been in the store when the break-ins happened, but it was still scary.

“You never know what they’re looking for,” Delgado said. “Are they looking to harm somebody, are they looking for money, are they just looking for small minuscule things? It’s hard to know.”

For now, he said he is going to get bars put on the windows and employees are working after hours to deter burglars.

“I’m just physically beat, I’m mentally exhausted,” Delgado said. “It’s been rough, to be honest, it’s been really rough. I haven’t been able to catch up on sleep. Just exhausted to the max trying to get everything back together.”

Delgado had a message for the burglars:

“I know how it is when you’re young,” he said. “You want to do stupid things to look cool, fit in. It’s really not that cool when someone builds something up from nothing and puts their heart into it just to get smashed by children over and over again. It just really sucks.”