ATLANTA — It was 5:55 a.m. a day before Christmas Eve when Karlief Legend's phone lit up, giving him a view that would ruin his holiday spirit.
"I realized that the alarm system has been triggered," he said.
The owner of The Plug ATL watched on his phone as $100,000 worth of equipment was stolen from his business.
"As I'm looking at the video, my stomach sank as I'm watching people running inside the building, out of the building with the equipment," he said.
Karlief said the thieves took off with 10 cameras, audio laveliers, boom mics, and other high-end photography equipment -- all keystones of his production empire that he was building with his wife.
"It was just a terrible morning," he said. "We're just at a loss for words."
The Plug ATL is a brand production studio that serves clients and the DeKalb County community. The studio is located in the Brookhaven and Chamblee area and strives to live by the motto that "it takes a village to build a brand."
Karlief and his wife, Charlene, operate the business while also striving to offer learning opportunities and internships for youth who may have a calling for content creation.
"We just been really plugged in to making sure we're able to provide access and opportunity to youth as it relates to film and television production," she said.
Charlene said the stolen equipment hurts more than just their bottom line.
"Our content creators are depending on us to keep their businesses and their brands afloat as well," she said. "It'll be between us and the insurance company going back and forth, trying to make sure that we are made whole again."
The couple stressed this incident has caused a domino effect. With less equipment, the business has to take on fewer clients and serve them in a limited capacity, which means less work for the people they employ, according to the couple.
"We opened five days before the global pandemic closed our world," Charlene said. "Our plug family is unlike any other."
Charlene said the theft has been tough to navigate for her and her husband and unfortunately has no clear solution.
"Of course, we want justice, but you know, they went straight for our camera equipment," she said. "We don't want to be the people on Christmas that are looking to take somebody's freedom. And it's just a heart-wrenching situation to me that there is no winner in this."
Her husband echoed a similar statement, adding that as a parent, the business owners can empathize with the thieves.
"We're definitely conflicted," the father of five said. "We have four boys. You don't punish a kid who makes noise on the piano."
Karlief said he had a message to the burglars.
"If this is something that you're serious about doing, invest the time on the front end because right now you're risking losing a lot of time if you're caught," he said. "We're here to help."
The two said they are grateful for the love and support they've received so far from the Atlanta community, which has been a light during the holiday season.
"Not only are we the mom and dad of the plug, we are the mother and father to five beautiful children, so this has pulled us away from their preparation and it's definitely put a damper on the holiday for us," Charlene said. "We know that it's going to take time to rebuild."
Those who would like to help The Plug ATL can contribute to their online fundraiser.