SEATTLE — Police are investigating after a group of thieves crashed a car into a West Seattle smoke shop during a burglary early Wednesday morning. It’s the latest smash-and-grab burglary in what has become a recent trend across the Puget Sound region.

According to the Seattle Police Department (SPD), officers responded to a report of a burglary at Global Smoke and Vape, located on the 9400 block of 35th Avenue Southwest, around 3:20 a.m. When officers arrived at the scene, they found a white vehicle backed into the front of the business.

The store owner didn’t want to be identified, but told KOMO News Wednesday morning’s burglary was the seventh time the business had been broken into and burglarized in the past month.

Surveillance video from inside the store shows four people climbing over the broken gate in the front of the business just after 3:20 a.m. Once inside, the thieves can be seen taking merchandise off the shelves before running out of the building.

Surveillance photos: Thieves hit West Seattle smoke shop for 7th time in a month

The suspects are believed to have fled the scene in a gold sedan. The owner said two people waited outside the store while four suspects were inside stealing the merchandise.

The surveillance video shows the four suspects were in and out of the business in about a minute. The business owner told KOMO News nearly $10,000 in merchandise had been stolen from the store.

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Boarding up the front entrance of the business costs between $4,000-5,000, according to the business owner, who added that “the actual glass cost more than that (to replace).”

Not only has the owner been left with a major expense, but also a business he’s trying to figure out how to protect.

“Each time we changed the security gate, we put a different way to screw stuff,” the owner said. “We can’t do anything quickly because it takes time and everything.”

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SPD said the white vehicle that was left behind at the scene, was a stolen vehicle. Anyone with information is asked to contact the SPD.

For the store owner, at this point, it’s personal. He is not closing up shop.

The owner said, "No, I'm not leaving. Why run away?! The Seattle police and the city of Seattle has a responsibility to save the citizen. I pay the tax!"

It is beyond apparent from the never-ending smash and grabs around town, that the cost of doing business in Seattle is high.

Wednesday afternoon, the owner paid for someone to install bollards (vertical metal poles) in front of his store in hopes that would stop the crimes.

“Glass prices are up. Metal prices are up. Labor prices are up," Rick Wakefield, owner of Wakefield Glass in Seattle said.

“We are seeing much more of this activity where it is stolen vehicles being driven through the front of businesses and merchandise taken,” he added. They have been busy.

Wakefield said sometimes once they install a glass, it is broken almost immediately, and they have to return to a business. Wakefield said that from ordering the glass and metal frames to modifying the items and installing them, it’s a process that can take at least 1-2 weeks.

The threat businesses face of insurance not covering the repeat smash and grabs and having their policies dropped “is very real,” according to Wakefield. “Repeat offenses are a real issue. Once the criminals have broken into a space and realized that there’s something in there that is worth taking, they will return.”

"We leave Mondays wide open," he said. "Recently, that has even changed to, we have to have a pretty loose schedule because this is happening on Tuesday afternoons. Stuff is being driven into, and we're having to get it repaired."

“My heart goes out to these businesses,” he added.

“I feel like they (City Government) need to enforce the laws more. There’s only so much they can do, and they know these guys are just going to get back out and do it again. The part about stealing the car, they know that they’re not going to get chased,” Wakefield said, “if they do get caught, then the prosecutors have to do something about it and enforce the laws.”

"Unfortunately, that’s what we’re seeing, a lot of businesses are just closing their doors. It’s cheaper to pay for a vacant space than to keep the space open and have reoccurring losses.”

"That's not a sustainable model for a city," KOMO Reporter Paul Rivera stated.

"It is not," Wakefield added.

A city spokesperson told KOMO on Wednesday that, “SDOT (Seattle Department of Transportation) can help store owners get permits for barriers like street trees, planters, benches, bike racks, etc. as barriers along sidewalks.”

The spokesperson also said help can be found through the Seattle Office of Economic Development: OED’s storefront repair program.

In a statement to KOMO News, Seattle Police officials said, “The Seattle Police Department is currently down in staffing numbers of 600 plus officers. Officers conduct patrols and premises checks between calls as time allows. Detectives are currently investigating these burglaries as well as other crimes within the City of Seattle. As always, SPD is committed to serving the residents of Seattle.”