PORTLAND, Ore. — For the last twenty years, 7th Street Espresso along Southeast Sherman Street and Seventh Avenue in Southeast Portland has been a labor of love for owner Amanda Frese.
These days, what Frese sees happening in her neighborhood, she’s starting to loathe. She put up a fence and even boarded windows, so she felt her small business was secure when she closed up for the day.
When she got to work on Wednesday morning she found her coffee shop was broken into. She says someone took a crowbar and broke through windows and stole many items there were inside.
Sadly this wasn’t the first time, the last time this happened was about ten years ago according to Frese. This latest break-in could end up costing ten to fifteen thousand dollars. Despite the fence and other security measures she has taken, Frese feels like there is nothing more she can do to protect herself and her business.
“I can stand strong, and know I’ll overcome this, I can’t overcome it again and again,” said Frese. She said it’s not just her business who’s been seeing growing crime. Across from her coffee shop, Aprisa Mexican Cuisine was broken into twice last month.
“You can’t have nothing in your business now because there’s a chance someone is going to break in your business for any little thing, you know it’s a scary situation,” said manager Luis Perez.