PORT ST. LUCIE — Alfredo Felipe opened his new barber shop in Port St. Lucie because he liked the hometown feel of the community.

Felipe, 33, never thought that a month after his grand opening, an odd theft would occur at his business, Fredo’s Barbershop Hair Trends International, 698 Southwest Port St. Lucie Blvd.

Felipe said his homemade, 7-foot barber pole, made out of Styrofoam, mesh, stucco and some light metal materials, was stolen between 12:30 and 1:30 p.m. Friday at his shop.

According to an incident report filed Friday with the Port St. Lucie Police Department, Felipe did not see or hear anything unusual when the theft of the barber pole occurred. Felipe said he was inside the shop cutting hair when the theft took place.

“I stuck the barber pole on the street to give the place some curb appeal,” Felipe said Sunday. “I don’t know how anyone is going to hide that thing in the county.”

The ball of the pole also contained some of his deceased mother’s ashes, Felipe said.

“I wanted to keep her close by,” Felipe said. ”Everything that I do … is in her memory.”

He said he was contacting law enforcement agencies on Monday about a small monetary reward to help in the recovery of the barber pole.

Felipe said he moved to the area last year from Miami after his mother was diagnosed with terminal cancer. She died in May, but Felipe said he stayed in Port St. Lucie because he preferred the area over the hustle and bustle of Miami. He also wanted to stay close to his father, and to his sister, who has Down syndrome, Felipe said.

“The thing is the size of Shaquille O’Neal, so I don’t know how anybody will be able to hide it,” Felipe said. “It’s made out of Styrofoam so if you drop it in one of the canals, it’s going to float.”

Felipe said his grand opening was Aug. 2, where he gave out free haircuts and food at the barber shop.

“I thought it was great,” Felipe said. “People were sitting Indian-style, everyone was having a good time.”

Felipe said he previously owned a barber shop in Miami, but nothing was ever stolen at that business.

“Over the years I’ve always tried to look at the bright side of life,” Felipe said. “So I am just trying to laugh it off. There’s no need crying over spilled milk.”

Nadia Vanderhoof

Tags: appeals, business, canal, cancer, communication, cuts, dies, father, food, grand, Miami, mother, police, reward, sister, theft, trend

This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 1st, 2009 at 11:40 am and is filed under Crime, Port St. Lucie, Treasure Coast business, Weird News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.