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ROAR for Good is looking for a new office with extra security after a robbery

Police need help identifying the man who broke into the personal safety device startup's offices in Spaces and stole about $5,000 worth of electronics.

ROAR for Good's Athena device and packaging in 2017. (Photo via Twitter)
Update: Comment from Norm Petersdorf, EVP of Operations, Americas at International Work Group, which owns Spaces, has been added. (12/17/19, 4:18 p.m.)

ROAR for Good, the personal safety device startup that announced earlier this year it would be pivoting to hospitality safety, is looking for a new headquarters.

Earlier this month, CEO Yasmine Mustafa tweeted that the company was “growing,” and looking for a furnished space in Philadelphia that they could potentially share with another company.

Then, about a week later, the founder also shared on Twitter that the current office, in Spaces at 100 S. Juniper St., had been broken into and robbed. The incident occurred on Dec. 3 at about 1 a.m., Philadelphia Police said.

The suspect broke in from a fire escape door on Sansom Street, cut the alarm and was able to gain access to the ROAR offices by using a crowbar to pry the door open, Mustafa told Technical.ly. He “ransacked” the office, she added.

Police said the man stole various pieces of electronic equipment worth about $5,000 and asked for the public’s help in identifying the man:

“The incident was unfortunate and occurred right after we purchased new equipment for a hotel installation,” Mustafa said. “Thankfully, we did not lose anything irreplaceable, nor will he be able to gain access to secure or private information.”

Mustafa said that the team is actively looking for new office space with better security, and said that she just learned that the building was breached a second time in the past few weeks.

A Spaces rep responded to a request for comment about the incident on Tuesday afternoon.

“The safety of our clients and their businesses is extremely important to us,” said Norm Petersdorf, EVP of Operations, Americas at International Work Group, which owns Spaces. “We are working with officials to support their investigation and also building management to implement additional measures to prevent future incidents.”

Companies: ROAR
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