Thieves took advantage of a power outage back in September and stole more than $60,000 worth of merchandise from a Socorro hair salon and jewelry store.

The Sept. 16 power outage impacted more than 8,000 residents, including Yolanda Herrera, who sells unique jewelry in her hair salon, Shear Masters.

“All of these (shelves) that are empty, they had necklaces and squash blossoms on there,” Herrera told KRQE News. “Up here, I had several of the belts, the plain silver, and some had the big turquoise rock on them.”

Herrera believes thieves took advantage of the situation, knowing the security alarm system was not working. They broke into her store between 2 a.m. and 4 a.m. Herrera thinks the robbers had probably been in her store before because of the items that were taken.

“One of the squash blossoms was priced at $4,500,” Herrera said. “It’s really a large squash blossom, very heavy, big stones. It was beautiful.”

Herrera said she has since upgraded her security measures.

“We’ve got cameras,” she told KRQE News. “We’re putting up a security door, and I put my jewelry in a safe every night.”