Black Kraken Tattoo Studio Seeks Support After Second Rooftop Break-in

Between taxes, rent, labor and other concerns, running a small business can cause plenty of financial headaches at the best of times...and that's before someone drops a cinderblock through your ceiling.

That's exactly what happened to Natasha and Mick Minyard at Longmont's Black Kraken Tattoo, when thieves broke into their business through its roof last week. The married owner-operators came to work on Sunday, August 18, to find their tattoo parlor had been crashed by burglars of a particularly destructive variety — and for the second time this year.

"It was kind of crazy," says Natasha Minyard. "It's like something you only see in the movies, like Boondock Saints or Mission Impossible."

The rooftop bandits "busted in through our AC/HVAC unit, cut that open, dropped a cinderblock through the ceiling, broke in that way, stole a bunch of our stuff, and then smashed a hole through our break room wall to get into El Vaquerisimo next door and stole a bunch of stuff from them," she says. Black Kraken doesn't keep cash on the premises overnight, but it lost valuable equipment in the heist, including tattoo needles and machines, electric foot pedals used for tattooing and power-supply items. Next door, the Western apparel store El Vaquerisimo had jewelry and clothing stolen.

It was the second time the businesses had been broken into, after a very similar incident on May 28. Natasha is assuming both break-ins were committed by the same perpetrators "because the M.O. is the same," she says. "They broke in the same way, through the ceiling, and then through our break room wall."

Now the owners are running a GoFundMe to try and recoup some of their losses. In May the Minyards realized that the details of their lease (they rent the Black Kraken space) and insurance left them holding the bag for the repairs. They managed to patch things back together then, only to have it all torn open again on August 18. "This is all coming out of our pocket," Natasha explains, which includes "reimbursement of our supplies, our machines, our equipment. We are our own loss-prevention department," she adds wryly.
The GoFundMe will primarily address the stolen supplies and equipment. The Minyards will be putting the wall back together themselves, again, but they've already received some much-needed support from a neighbor for some of the other repairs. "One of the members of the Longmont community had reached out to us and said, 'Hey, I'm willing to fix the air-conditioning system and the ceiling for you guys, free of charge," Natasha says. "So the community has really shown its support for us, which is super-cool."

They're still on the hook for replacing the pricey tattooing gear lost in the robbery, but in the meantime, they continue to provide Longmont with plenty of ink therapy. Mick Minyard has more than twenty years of tattooing experience, and Natasha joined him in the business recently, beginning to tattoo a year and a half ago. "We had lived in Longmont for a while and decided to make it our home base," she says. "We liked it here. We still like it here, despite the crime. Mick was tired of working for other people and wanted to be his own boss."

They've enjoyed the freedom, but have also had the responsibility of dealing with the setbacks, which have been substantial, particularly this summer. In addition to the break-ins, the shop was held up by an armed robber in July. While three employees were closing, "a guy came in with ski mask and ski goggles and a revolver, and held them at gunpoint," Natasha says. When one of the staff members told him, "I have a kid," the man began crying, took their money, asked them not to call the police and fled. No one was hurt, but it was a sobering experience.

"I know the economy has been really crappy," Natasha notes. "People are suffering, and I think that makes people more brave, especially when they feel like they don't have any other choice." Now the husband-and-wife team is trying to move forward — they just need a little help catching up.

"We're still here. We're still open," Natasha says. "This is how we feed our family, feed our kids. ... Despite what happened, we're still open and still tattooing."

Black Kraken Tattoo Studio is at 1110 Main Street, Longmont. Donations can be made to its GoFundMe.