Pittsfield, United States

The US Secret Service was forced to apologise after they broke into a salon, taped over the security camera, and used the restroom. The salon owner told reporters it was during Kamala Harris' visit at the end of July. The agency members had left the door open.

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“I'm the kind of person that would have set up coffee and doughnuts for them had they asked me for permission,” said Alicia Powers, the owner of Four One Three Salon in Pittsfield. But no one asked her or her landlord's permission.

The agents taped over the security camera at the back porch and helped themselves in after breaking in through the door. They used the restroom ate the mints on the counter and left the place without cleaning or locking the door.

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Around 8 am on July 27, Powers received an alert on her phone about the activity on the back porch of the salon while she was on a vacation in Cape Cod.

“She walked around the porch, walked around the side of the building and then popped back up on the porch, grabbed the chair, hopped up and taped the camera," Powers said what the footage revealed. "It blacked out the camera completely.”

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The alarms started going off at the property and the footage showed people entering and leaving for about two hours. She reached the salon at about 4 pm after the crowd had left.

Powers approached the Pittsfield Police and was later put in touch with the Service representative in New York. She was told, "It couldn't have been them; it's not what they do. They ask for permission.” But later on, the agency confirmed that the woman who taped the camera was part of the Secret Service. 

Also read | US Secret Service admits denying 'extra' security to Trump that led to assassination bid

Powers said that the Secret Service’s Boston office has apologised to her. She also told Pittsfield Police officers and Chief Thomas Dawley have been helpful in her situation.

The agency has offered to pay her for the cleaning of the salon and any damages. They will also be paying for the private alarm bill of the salon “because it was going off for so long.”

While Powers is glad to receive the apology, she still feels violated and disrespected about the incident. She expressed her concern about the condition the salon was left in after the agents left.

“We're a small business. We've all worked incredibly hard to build this business," she said. "This is our livelihood. And it could have been taken from all of my 12 employees in a flash.”

(With inputs from agencies)