Irondequoit, N.Y.—Tom Wood recalls the very moment he walked into his reef shop, Thursday morning.
“There were a lot of messy aquariums and tens of thousands of dollars of very special corals taken from my shop.”
$15,000 in corals, $5,000 in merchandise and a small amount of cash were stolen from The Reef Shoppe, according to Wood.
He said a burglary took place late Wednesday or early Thursday morning.
He’s unsure if the insurance he has on the goods will cover what was lost.
“I feel like a little bit of my heart and sole has been taken along with the merchandise,” said Wood.
Wood says corals were stolen because they are valuable and can be reproduced.
“There’s five dollar corals, there’s $5,000 corals,” said Wood. “It’s (a) very, very specialized hobby.”
Store managers believe the thief or thieves knew his shop well, but current employees are not among those they suspect were responsible.
Irondequoit Police did not immediately return a request for comment.
“These people work very hard and for them to lose by someone taking and someone that knew obviously what they were doing is very disappointing,” said Jeanine Schroeder, a customer.
If you have any information that could help police, call CrimeStoppers at 585-423-9300.
