Rug store closes up shop

The Sirous & Sons Rug Gallery at 222 Ocean Ave. has closed its doors.

The man who ran the store, Saeid Boustanabadi Maralan, 53, was first arrested in September and since then has racked up numerous charges involving 11 women that included felony forcible rape, sexual penetration with a foreign object by force, sexual battery and assault with the intent to commit oral copulation.

All acts allegedly took place inside the store.

The days before Christmas were spent moving items out.

Heidi Miller, who owns the World Newsstand next door, said the rug store was empty by the time she came back to work Dec. 26.

The storefront looked bare Tuesday. Unopened mail sat by the doors, and a front window was boarded up, with shattered glass on the floor behind it.

Bare wooden planks were visible where hundreds of Persian rugs were once stacked. Random garbage, a spare chair and a plant on its side were all that were left of the store that opened in that location in 2008.

A call to the store’s listed number confirmed its closure.

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Twitter: @joannaclay