Las Vegas pizza shop without air conditioning after copper wire theft

LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — Broadway Pizza has been a staple in the Las Vegas community for almost 30 years and in that time many things have happened but having the copper wire ripped out of its AC unit was a first.

“I call the technician out and he comes down. It cost me $115 for him to tell me that my entire unit was gone,” Broadway Pizza Owner, Anthony Rossi shared.

Friday was when they noticed that the air in their restaurant wasn’t working and eventually called an HVAC technician to come out for repairs. However, that’s when they learned that their AC unit located on the roof had been vandalized and busted open for parts.

“We see it all the time and all over the news, but then when it happens to you, it’s like, Oh my god!” he said.

Owner, Denise Rossi, said as of now she and her husband Anthony have no clue when everything will be fixed.

“Companies are busy and parts are on back order so it’s not easy for residents to replace their AC units let alone commerical units so it could be a week or weeks,” Denise shared.

Those who frequent Broadway Pizza are upset this happened, but they are not letting a little less air stop them from being committed customers.

“I really feel bad, but I’m here to support them,” customer, Sierra Powell said.

“I’m upset they did that, getting on the roof and being so bold,” customer, Michael Harris added.

Customers like Florence Vadla waited in the lines to get a slice of the New York-style pizza. She’s been going here since they opened 28 years ago.

“We are eating here I don’t care about the AC. It’s a local, family-orientated business, we have to support each other,” she said.

While Vadla and other customers wait in the heat for a slice so do the owners Mario and Desiree Perdichizzi and their business partners Anthony and Denise Rossi. It could take weeks to get them cool again.

“I just want to thank everybody for supporting us. We plan on being here for a while so we will see what happens,” Perdichizzi said.

Broadway Pizza is celebrating its 28th anniversary next Saturday night so they hope that they will still get a good turnout from their customers that night with a live band performing.

Broadway is not the only pizza spot to have this happen recently. Just a couple of days ago, Good Pie in the Arts District was hit too.

The city has passed a bill pertaining to the copper wire theft issue and County Commissioner Tick Segerblom is in the midst of working on the county’s first copper wire theft task force to combat this theft.

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