LOS ANGELES, CA – A man smashed the front door of Good Friend Coffee in East Hollywood early Tuesday and left with only a blue shirt and hat from the shop’s merchandise, according to the owners and the Los Angeles Police Department.
The break-in happened at 6:13 a.m. Tuesday, Oct. 6, at the family-owned coffee shop on the 800 block of Virgil Avenue, the owners said. The LAPD said officers responded to the business for a reported burglary at about 6:45 a.m.
Police described the suspect as a male adult who entered the location and stole merchandise. His age and the value of the items taken were unknown, the department said.
Man searched behind the register
The owners said the man broke out the front door of the shop to get inside. They said he searched behind the register before leaving.
He did not take anything from the register area, according to the owners. The only items missing were a blue shirt and a blue hat from the shop’s merchandise.
Police have not released a description of the man beyond calling him a male adult. They also have not said how much the stolen items were worth.
Bar on Hoover Street also burglarized
The LAPD said a bar on the 600 block of Hoover Street was burglarized at about 6:37 a.m. the same morning, roughly 24 minutes after the time the owners gave for the coffee shop break-in.
The department said it believes the same man may be responsible for both burglaries. It said it cannot confirm that because no arrest has been made.
The department did not say what was taken from the bar or how the suspect got inside.
Owners ask public for help
The owners of Good Friend Coffee asked the public in a social media post to help identify the man. In the same post, they addressed him directly, saying: “to the guy that broke in all to just steal a blue hat and shirt … orange will look better on you anyway.”
The shop’s owners discussed the break-in in statements on Oct. 6 and 7. They did not give a repair estimate in the information available.
City reports decline in burglaries
In May, Mayor Karen Bass announced a 30% reduction in burglaries in the City of Los Angeles compared with 2025, along with more than 100 burglary arrests in the previous 30 days, according to the mayor’s announcement.
LAPD Deputy Chief Gerald Woodyard said in that announcement that the decrease reflects the effectiveness of the department’s proactive enforcement and prevention strategies. Those strategies included extra patrols, high-visibility vehicle deployment, mobile license plate readers around high-risk burglary areas, outreach by Senior Lead Officers and air support.
The figures describe citywide trends reported by the mayor’s office. They do not address the two burglaries on Tuesday.
How burglary reports are published
The LAPD publishes an open dataset of crime incidents reported in the City of Los Angeles. According to the dataset’s description, it “reflects NIBRS formatted crime incidents reported to LAPD through the year 2026, occurring in the City of Los Angeles.”
The department moved to a records system aligned with the FBI’s National Incident Based Reporting System on March 7, 2024. The same offense records, including the hundred-block location of each incident, are available on the City of Los Angeles Open Data Portal.
No arrest announced in either burglary
Anyone with information about the burglaries is asked to contact the LAPD. The Rampart Community Police Station, which serves Virgil Village and neighboring communities, lists a front desk number of 213-484-3400 and a detective desk number of 213-484-3424. The department’s non-emergency line is 1-877-ASK-LAPD.
As of Thursday, Oct. 8, the LAPD had not announced an arrest in either burglary and had not confirmed whether the same man was involved in both. The investigation remains active.
