Crime & Safety
Thieves Evade Alarms in Spate of Smash, Grab Break-ins
Managers from 11 businesses broken into overnight May 29 and 30 are left to clean up an expensive mess.
Managers from five of the 12 businesses that were on May 29 and 30 said their glass doors were shattered in such a way that alarms did not go off.
At Dobbin Center, Francisco Gonzalez, the manager of Qdoba, said the thieves used some kind of object or device on the side of the door frame to smash the shatterproof glass. They then pushed open the glass and climbed through the door, stole money from the cash drawer at the front, broke into the office in the back and attempted to gain entry to a safe in the office, but were unsuccessful.
Gonzalez said that by breaking the glass in such a way, the thieves did not trigger the alarm connected to the frame of the door. He said this is the third time in seven months the business has been burglarized.
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Nearby, at LA Boxing, workers were cleaning up the glass that laid in bits and pieces on the cement sidewalk. Manager Marc Taylor said cameras may have caught the suspects, but that corporate offices had control over the footage. He said it was the first time the business had been burglarized in two years and that cash was taken.
Down the road at Royal Pizza, which is located at the 9400 block of Snowden River Parkway, owner Mahima Puri said thieves stole money from registers and the tip jar. Nearby businesses, Comics to Astonish and Domino's Pizza, were also struck by thieves, according to police.
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Puri said cameras caught two individuals who may have been involved. One individual stood outside while the other entered the business, according to Puri.
Like at LA Boxing and Qdoba, Royal Pizza had alarms on its door frames, but not the glass.
"In the future, we're putting alarms on the glass," said Puri.
Puri said the crime cost her business about $1,000 in repair costs and stolen money.
Employees at Comics to Astonish declined to comment.
At Dobbin Center, Brian, the manager of Pei Wei, said whomever broke the restaurant's door used an object which scratched the frame and shattered the glass.
"We keep our registers open so you can look in and see there's no cash," said Brian.
Nothing was taken from Pei Wei, but the door cost about $800 to fix, said Brian.
Across from Pei Wei, at the Tan Stand, Jessica Shafer, Tan Stand's director of operations, said the thieves were caught on camera. She said there was a group of them, she wasn't sure how many, wearing dark clothes, hoodies and latex gloves.
"Our alarm was not tripped by the robbers," said Shafer. She said they gained entry, like at other locations, through the bottom part of a glass door and then belly-crawled to the front desk where they stole cash.
She said it would cost more to fix the door than what the thieves stole from the front desk.
"It's disheartening because small businesses are going away; they're few and far between," said Shafer, "and this discourages business."
For a full list of businesses struck by thieves overnight on May 29 and 30 and for information on how to provide information to police, see Patch's original article on the break-ins here - http://patch.com/A-tFnv
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