STOCKTON, Calif — A small business owner is desperate, searching for the items stolen from her event space in Downtown Stockton.
Cynthia Guerrero, 36, says someone broke into her business, Wild Bride Rentals, and stole her delivery trailer, taking at least $10,000 worth of vintage decor pieces and other rental supplies.
“When I walked in, everything was gone, including our trailer,” Guerrero said.
According to Guerrero, running her own wedding and event planning business was her childhood dream. Her dream came true two years ago when she transformed a 5,000 sq. ft. room into a unique boutique event space at The Sycamore in downtown.
“We were pretty much booked until the end of this year, we had a huge expo planned as well,” she said. Since then, Wild Bride Rentals has been part of the Central Valley Wedding and Event Industry and has won many awards, including 2018 WeddingWire’s Couples Choice Award, Guerrero explained.
Unfortunately, as for many other business owners, things quickly took a turn.
“The pandemic forced my business to a standstill,” she said. “I mean, there just hasn’t been any revenue since then,” she added.
To make things even worse, on Oct. 2, thieves broke into the event space, stealing her delivery trailer, at least $10,000 in vintage décor pieces and thousands of dollars of rental supplies.
“I was just like absolutely floored,” she explained while holding back tears. Most of the items stolen were one of a kind. “It has taken years to find them and to find multiples, it’s really hard,” she said.
According to Guerrero, the thieves not only stole her belongings but also her dream and livelihood, which will be nearly impossible to recover from. “I just can’t go online and order them, but we were hopeful that at least the insurance would cover most of it, but they’re not,” Guerrero said.
The Stockton Police Department is they’re still looking for the suspect or suspects that might have stolen the item. Meanwhile, Guerrero’s family has set up a go-fund-me account to help her get back on her feet. The page had raised more than $1,000 as of Friday, October 9.
“I’m just thankful for whatever is raised and will definitely go back to trying to find our items,” she said.
Investigators told Guerrero the thieves could be someone she knows, but she doesn’t want to know who stole from her. She simply wants her stuff back to keep doing what she loves. “Just to kind of fulfill all the events we had for the rest of the year,” Guerrero said.