America’s small businesses slammed by rising crime: ‘People are afraid’

Crime across the nation has been keeping many people on their toes.

This includes America’s small business owners — who are taking a hit as they recover from break-ins and as customers stay away from crime-ridden areas.

Goodwood Brewery CEO Ted Mitzlaff joined "Fox & Friends First" on Monday to describe a recent smash and grab at his location in Louisville, Kentucky.

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He said that in addition to the price of his shattered bulletproof doors and the alcohol the robbers stole, his business is also suffering financially due to a lack of foot traffic.

"People are afraid to come downtown," he said. "We certainly see fewer and fewer locals coming to our downtown locations."

Mitzlaff shared that Goodwood’s Columbus, Ohio, location was also robbed.

Meanwhile, the Louisville break-in was one of eight robberies in the area that same night.

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"We never heard from a police investigator and, to my knowledge, they never got the guy," he said.

The problems of crime and homelessness go "hand in hand," Mitzlaff also said — which many people believe are going unaddressed in cities nationwide.

Shoplifting has cost business owners nearly $100 billion in profits, according to a National Retail Security Survey, as "Fox & Friends First" noted. 

The survey, done annually by the National Retail Federation, covers national retail security issues such as inventory shrink, employee integrity and organized retail crime issues, that organization reports.

"It was apparent that they were not going to be prosecuted."

J’s Creole Wings owner Omar Duncan of New Orleans, Louisiana, added that his business was also broken into — and that the two juveniles who took part in the crime were given just a "slap on the wrist."

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"It was apparent that they were not going to be prosecuted, or pay for their crimes in any way," he said.

Meanwhile, Los Angeles property manager Nejdeh Avedian said his business has been impacted by the "very frustrating" rise in crime as well.

"People just don’t care," he said.

"We have armed guards in our building — but they’re just coming in. They don’t care."

Avedian reiterated that the issue is continuing because of the current lack of crackdowns on crime.

"They [the criminals] are taking the risk because they have nothing else to lose," he said.

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"They’re going to go to jail and then 24 hours later they’re going to be out again — and it’s not going to matter," he said. 

He also mentioned that he hopes the newly elected Los Angeles mayor, Karen Bass, as well as the district attorney and the city attorney, are able to do something about the crime problem. 

But he noted that the local police officers are frustrated, as criminals are often put right back out on the streets.