Caught on camera: 2nd East Bay hair salon is target of purse theft

PLEASANTON, Calif. (KGO) -- A second hair salon in the East Bay has been the target of a purse theft, both of which were caught on camera.

The question now, is, are the two incidents connected?

On Thursday, a woman was seen on surveillance video leaving the Luxe Beauty Bar in Pleasanton apparently holding a purse owned by Lisa Stewart, one of the salon's hair stylists.

"She took it," Stewart recalled, "She just slid right in, super quiet. I didn't hear the front door."

According to Stewart, the suspect came into the salon, went into the employee break room, took her purse and left through a break room exit. She came early in the morning when few people were in the building.

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The theft came just a few days after a similar incident at a hair salon in Walnut Creek. A female suspect was seen on surveillance video going into the break room and stealing hair stylist Yadira Nelson's Louis Vuitton purse. Nelson lost hundreds of dollars of cash tips, along with credit cards, which the suspect tried to use at the nearby mall.

"She walks in, stands by the restroom for a minute, waits for me to walk my client up to the front and that's when she runs in and out," Nelson said.

Nelson said in her case, the suspect came at night right before the salon closed, a time in which few people were around.

Walnut Creek PD and Pleasanton PD confirmed the individual incidents. Pleasanton PD said they do not have any leads on the suspect and were not aware of the incident in Walnut Creek.

They described the woman seen on surveillance video from Luxe Beauty Bar as a "white female in her 30's with long, dark hair." They do not know if it's the same woman in both thefts.

Both Stewart and Nelson believe it is.

"She has a lot of similarities, it just looks like her," Stewart said after looking at the surveillance video. "She knows all the stylists keep the purses in the break room so she knows exactly where to go."

The women say even though this time stylists were targeted, clients should be cautious, too.

"When you go there you're just relaxing, you're really thinking nothing's going to happen," Nelson said of salons, "And this person knows where to go."