Equipment, supplies, vaccine vials stolen in Purdy burglaries

Tens of thousands of dollars worth of equipment was stolen from a hair salon and a dentist’s office in Purdy last week about a half-mile apart.

Among the items stolen were 100 vials of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

Now the Pierce County Sheriff is trying to figure out if the burglaries are related.

The businesses do have some things in common: both burglaries happened overnight, both businesses are in pretty isolated places, and neither business has surveillance cameras.

No one has revealed how the crooks got into the dental office. But there is a pretty good theory about how they got into the nearby hair salon.

Geneve Filbert showed how burglars broke into the back of the hair salon she opened here just three years ago.

These pictures show what it looked like when they discovered the mess early last Thursday morning.

“So this is part of what we walked into,” Filbert said. “So you can see the hole. So that’s where they gained access. The mirror was shattered out down on the floor.”

Crooks stole just about everything that wasn’t nailed down.

“We’re estimating about $50,000 at least in losses,” she said.

It is a far cry from the way her salon once looked.

“As you can (see, it’s) a lot cleaner and a lot more organized before someone decided to come in and trash the place,” she said.

She says one of the stylists at the salon cried. As for her?

“I haven’t cried yet,” she said, too busy trying to figure out how to keep her business afloat.

The very next night, a half-mile away, thieves broke into the North Harbor Dentistry Office. Detectives have not said how they got in. But they stole more than $100,000 worth of medical and computer equipment, 100 vials of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, and a vial of Botox.

“I’m trying to plan out stuff for myself, the three other people, kind of trying to keep my head above water,” lamented Filbert.

The burglary, she says, might signal the end of her business here.

“Not only did I spend about $10,000 building up the space,” she said, “and then you’re looking at having to restock all inventory, all tools.”

A lot of people have been talking online about the stolen vaccines and why they were in a dentist’s office.

But dentists are among the health professionals who can administer vaccines, so there was nothing unusual about them being there.

Anyone who knows anything about these burglaries is asked to call the Pierce County Sheriff.

Written by KIRO 7 reporter Deborah Horne