Burglars cleaned out a longtime St. Paul business. Now the community is rallying to help.

Broken glass littered the alleyway behind Tuan Auto Repair in St. Paul.

Owner Raks Pham thought little of the debris when he got to work Friday morning — it was the fourth time in months that vandals had broken windows. But when Pham found oily shoe prints leading from a broken window inside his shop, he realized he had been burglarized.

The intruders took around $30,000 in tools and equipment.

Tuan Auto Repair has weathered decades of change in the Hamline-Midway neighborhood to become a staple among customers and residents. Dozens of those residents rallied behind Pham on Friday, asking on Facebook how they could help.

As authorities searched for suspects and neighbors gathered to support his business, Pham said he hopes officials do something about the area’s surging crime.

“The underlying problem is what’s going on with the neighborhood, the city. It’s getting really, really, out of hand,” Pham said. “The drug use around here is just getting so bad. In these past few years, it’s the worst I’ve ever seen it since we opened.”

His father, Tuan Anh Pham, escaped communism in Vietnam to immigrate to St. Paul. He worked for years before founding Tuan Auto Repair in 1986, impressing residents with his service and sense of community. Many mourned when he died in 2021, but many more extended their trust to his son when he took over the shop.

Scores of customers’ letters plaster the walls inside Tuan’s Auto. Family photos, holiday greeting cards and hand-drawn pictures share the space with notes thanking the shop’s crew.