Vandal causes thousands of dollars in damage for local business owner

LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — A valley business owner is left with thousands of dollars worth of damages after a vandal was caught on camera targeting his business.

“I have no idea what motivates this individual to vandalize a pet store,” said Freddy Caseres, owner of Freddy’s Reptiles.

Caseres shared a surveillance video taken on the morning of November 24. It shows the moment a man in a white pickup pulls up to Caseres’ storefront. You can see the man get out of the truck, throw two items at the store and break the front windows. He then appears to run back to the pickup and drives off.

“Since it was cold that day, the cold air entered in and unfortunately killed four of the animals,” said Caseres.

Freddy said this is not the first time his store has been vandalized. He believes the same person vandalized it in June 2023 and again on September 25, 2024.

“He came here at 6 a.m. and dumped used motor oil in the front of my business. The oil actually seeped in under the door, and three of my iguanas actually got sick,” said Caseres. “The second incident, he came here again at 6 a.m., threw eggs at the door and put a bucket of used motor oil in front of the door, I guess, to let me know it’s the same person.”

Channel 13 asked him how he knew it was the same person.

”From all three incidents, it’s been the same car, same Dodge Ram, same white individual, and you can see the same red tub in the back of the pickup. ”

He said it’s been a huge loss.

More than $3,000 worth in damages and dead animals. He’s filed two police reports with Metro. The September 25 investigation was closed after Metro says all leads were exhausted. Metro said the most recent incident is still under investigation.

In the meantime, Caseres said he has no idea who the suspect is and why the person would vandalize his business.

“I don’t know what’s his drive, what’s his motivation. But what scared me is that I don’t know him, so I don’t know what he’s capable of.”

Caseres said the vandalism has cut into his bottom line.

“Now I got to go out of my own pocket, dip out of my own rent money to try and pay all this. It’s just setting me back,” added Caseres.

He has installed two additional security cameras around his business to protect himself against the suspect.