A beloved Pasadena bakery is struggling to stay open after thieves ripped roughly $4,000 worth of copper wire from its rooftop air conditioning unit — leaving behind a staggering repair bill.
The rooftop heist at Sweet Red Peach Bakery on Arroyo Parkway crippled the business’s HVAC system, delivering a blow that owners say will cost $15,000 to fix.
The crooks stole high-grade copper wiring and condensing coils for scrap metal. Owners of the bakery said that they are facing an “unexpected crisis” that threatens their ability to stay open and keep our team safe.
“While they walked away with a small amount of scrap cash, they left us with thousands of dollars in damage and a completely unusable HVAC system,” said Kenyatta Glover, the co-founder of the bakery said in a message on GoFundMe.
Beyond the loss of cooling for the shop, the theft has destroyed the bakery’s walk-in refrigeration systems, which are no longer operating at proper temperatures.
The bakery is receiving support and love from the community as well as fellow business owners.
Neighbors & Friends Café in Pasadena provided them with a personal swamp cooler while the Pasadena native-owned restaurant EatYoWay purchased every cake the bakery had left in a show of community support.
“I work for an HVAC company, @brodypennell and my boss would like to replace your unit free of charge. Please get back to me so we can get this on the schedule for you!!,” Maria Carbajal Perez commented on the bakery’s latest Instagram post.
Without air conditioning, the temperature inside the store rose to a sweltering 90 degrees last week amid the heatwave and the cakes in the bakery were melting while freezing units were on the verge of failing.
“You have to smile to keep from crying, but it’s a lot, because we’re human. One can only take so much,” she said,” Glover had said last week, adding that the shop has hardly recovered from the Eaton Fire.
