LOS ANGELES, March 28 (UPI) -- A Los Angeles group says the theft of a $50,000 tattoo-removal machine means it can no longer zap tattoos from former gang members seeking to start anew.
"It's devastating. Now we can't do our thing," Rosemarie Ashamalla, executive director of the small non-profit Sunrise Community Outreach, told the Los Angeles Times.
The group's receptionist found a front second-story window smashed when she arrived Friday morning at the clinic in the Westlake area of the city, police said.
The tattoo-removal machine, mounted on rollers, was gone, and a passerby later reported to police seeing someone roll it away about 1 a.m. Friday, Los Angeles Police Capt. Steve Ruiz said.
Ashamalla said the theft will probably mean her group is out of business "unless something fantastic happens," she said.
The machine was not insured -- Ashamalla said Sunrise's non-profit status made it hard to get insurance -- and the group could not afford $25,000 for a used machine.
She said demand for tattoo removal outstrips services in Los Angeles. Not only gangsters, but also prostitutes and others seek to remove tattoos as they seek better lives, the Times said.
Sunrise, which receives $100,000 annually in grants and payments from clients, had removed tattoos for about 200 people a year using the machine to aim a laser beneath the skin to break up the molecules of tattoo ink.
