Several thousand dollars donated to help those still struggling a year after the Monterey Park mass shooting that claimed the lives of 11 people and injured nine others were stolen Tuesday in Arcadia.
Security cameras captured a man using what appears to be a towel to shield his face while breaking into a vehicle outside Arcadia Donuts, getting access to the trunk and running off with a bag.
The theft happened in the early morning hours, just minutes after Francois Ung had opened his donut shop.
“I lift my head and I saw one guy running. Why is he running? I said, ‘That’s not right.’” That’s why I started to run outside to check my car and I saw the window broken,” Ung told KTLA’s Carlos Saucedo.
The bag taken from his trunk contained his laptop and $2,000 of fundraising money he collected for victims of the Monterey Park tragedy.
Just last Sunday, dozens of people gathered at city hall in Monterey Park to mark the one-year anniversary of the massacre at the Star Ballroom Dance Studio.
Ung spoke at Sunday’s vigil to honor his friend Yu-Lun Kao, one of the 11 people killed that night.
“My wife was inside the room, her dance partner for 15 years, Yu-Lun Kao…we called him Andy in English,” Ung explained.
The donut shop owner hosted a fundraiser over the weekend to benefit the Monterey Park Hope Resiliency Center. The event had been well advertised in his shop, which is why he thinks the thief knew exactly what he was looking for.
“I was very upset because I knew the person who took the money probably was watching, knew I was doing the fundraiser,” he said.
This isn’t the first time that Ung or his business has been targeted. Since opening Arcadia Donuts two years ago, it’s been broken into and ransacked three other times.
In May 2023, thieves broke into the store, tied a rope around his ATM and used an SUV to pull it out.
Despite the setbacks, Ung said he refuses to stop doing the right thing.
“Maybe in the future, we do another fundraiser to help people who lost their family,” he said.
In the meantime, a GoFundMe has been organized to help recoup the stolen funds.
