Earlier this month a break in occurred within our community; local businesses iTea and SugarBuzz were robbed in the early hours of the morning with the burglars smashing into the stores in order to take money from the cash registers. In an interview with Yorba Linda High School’s the Wrangler, Rubab Suri, the current owner of Sugar Buzz on Santa Ana Canyon Road, described how the experience affected her and her business.

Q: How has this act of robbery affected your community, both as a member of the community, but also as a business within our community?

A: It definitely has people on edge and on high alert.  Living in Anaheim Hills/Yorba Linda, you develop a feeling of safety so it’s quite jarring when that illusion is shattered by an incident like this.  On the flip side, it has also brought us closer to the community, I feel. People have been very supportive and are rallying behind us. It is a bit of a silver lining I suppose.

Q: Has this changed your view on the community as a whole?

A: It has made me feel a bit uneasy about about this area but it also comforts me to know that the community is tight-knit and supportive when something goes wrong.

Q: If you could say anything to the people who did this, do you have anything you would want to say to them?

A: I would say that if money is what they wanted, I would have probably given it to them if I was asked.  Shattering someone’s door and taking something that isn’t theirs in the cloak of darkness isn’t the right way to go about things.  I would also say that they should respect and support local businesses instead of stealing from them.

Q: Is there anything you’d like to say to other businesses or other people of the community who are frightened of the risk of crime?

A: If you are a business owner or a resident in the area be smart, alert and take proper measures to secure your belongings and property.  Also, people should rest assured that police officers in our area are committed to keeping the community safe. The ones who responded to our incident were really thorough, friendly and made us feel at ease throughout their entire investigation.

Despite the obstacles in her path, Rubab Suri stays an optimist and her love for the community shines through as she holds her head high and continues bringing smiles to the people around town with a sweet treat and wave of the hand. Ahmed Suri (11) is a student on campus and Rubab’s brother, and when asked about the break in, he said, “It’s quite unfortunate that these people are targeting local small businesses such as SugarBuzz. We love to provide tasty and whimsical treats to the community, and rowdy teenagers like these breaking into local shops only bring harm and fear of safety.” Nevertheless, Sugar Buzz is now back to being open and is serving delicious desserts bringing joy to our land of gracious leaving; all in all for this busy business- life’s pretty sweet.