Young Man Protects Tori Ear Piercing In Port Washington After Door Blows Open

PORT WASHINGTON, NY — A young man was lauded by a Port Washington business owner after he potentially saved her shop from getting robbed on Saturday night.

Chase Rimington, 19, was the first person to act when he noticed the front door was ajar of Tori Ear Piercing, at 167 Main Street. An associate accidentally left the door unlocked, and the wind pushed it open, said Valentina Hartman, who owns the studio.

Rimington saw the door open and had a look of concern on his face, said Hartman, who has surveillance footage.

Rimington said he was strolling home from work when he came across something that hit him as "odd," he told Patch. The front door was not fully closed, but the deadbolt was still locked. He thought someone inside may have been tending to some last-minute tasks before closing and peered inside, but saw the lights were turned off and the store was closed.

He tried to contact the business through its Ring doorbell, phone number, and various social media platforms before calling the police. He and his friend, Freddy Merlos, waited half an hour for officers to arrive. Merlos is a growing YouTube personality under the username SiggyXo, Rimington said.

"Eventually uniting with me, we both made the mutual decision to alert authorities of the situation at hand after failing to reach out to the business," Rimington said. "Police arrived on scene and we explained how we saw the door left ajar and were uncertain as to why the deadbolt was still engaged and how it didn't seem to have been a forced entry. We then left it in capable hands."

The door had been open for 30 minutes, Hartman said, and camera footage showed at least eight groups of people walk past the open door without doing anything.

"What he did, I think was amazing," Hartman said. "Nobody else even took the time out to do anything like that. I could have easily been very robbed. I just think it's wonderful what this kid did."

Hartman rewarded Rimington with $100, she said.

"I feel like the kids in town get a bad rap and I wanted to let people know what he did," Hartman said.

Rimington works in retail himself and said he is aware of how diligent others in the field are.

"I just did what any decent human being would do and didn't think much of it," he said.

Tori Ear Piercing first opened on Main Street around 18 years ago but downsized after four years, transferring to Willowdale Avenue. But Hartman ached for a return to the downtown and purchased her current building last July.

She plans for her daughter, Tori, to eventually take the business over.