INGLEWOOD (2UG) – Owners of several Inglewood restaurants have taken to social media declaring they no longer feel safe as their businesses continue to be vandalized.
The Martin family owns the popular Fiesta Martin restaurants which have been broken into multiple times over the years.
After reporting the thefts to the Inglewood Police Department, they shared it’s happening to businesses all around town.
Christian Martin, one of the sons that runs the restaurants was the Chairman of the Inglewood Airport Area Chamber of Commerce but tendered his resignation effective May 1 to focus on the growth of his family and business. The chamber didn’t alert its members until May 10 through a mass email to their subscriber’s list.
The Martin’s were granted approval for the only pedicab service in city limits which shuttles people to events at SoFi Stadium and were recently in the news as two of their businesses are being forced to relocate due to the Inglewood Transit Connector project.
They are heavily invested in the City’s growth and being apart of it.
The Martin family is one of the most successful family-owned businesses in Inglewood having grown their real estate portfolio over the years to include multiple properties and expansion of their Antojitos Martin and Fiesta Martin restaurants.
They were strong supporters of the return of the NFL to the city and traveled to Sacramento in support of the Intuit Dome which touted the safety of the City making it an ideal location for these multi-billion dollar investments.
Despite City Hall’s slogan “the only thing that’s changed in Inglewood is everything” doesn’t take into account the crime that continues to plague the City as the police department ramps up efforts to recruit after a mass exodus of veteran officers to attrition and retirement.
Taxpayers are shelling out over $15 million annually for outside police services from neighboring law enforcement agencies with the total spent on law enforcement exceeding $100 million annually.
City Hall has yet to publicly respond to the uptick in crime by announcing more patrols in commercial areas that are a prime target.
Emilie St. John is a contributing writer for 2UrbanGirls.com and the Los Angeles Wave newspaper
