ST. LOUIS – Detectives are investigating a string of burglaries at restaurants on S. Grand Boulevard after police responded to three break-ins within a block of each other Friday.
“It sucks; it takes a lot of time out of our day filing insurance claims, trying to board up a window, all the cleanup, but we didn’t lose anything,” Shani Knight, owner of GOTham & Eggs, said. Surveillance video shows it all.
“It was three young kids in hoodies, faces covered; they went straight in. One went straight through our office through the kitchen,” Knight said.
The video shows one criminal head into the office while the other two go over to computers.
“I think that they were expecting to find registers there but they just tossed around the area a little bit. They all gathered in our office, tried to pull our safe out, but couldn’t get it; it’s bolted to the floor. And then they bolted. So less than two minutes in and out,” Knight said.
Just right around the block, police responded to burglaries at Poke One and Mokabe’s, where money was stolen from both businesses.
Knight said this is the second break-in at the restaurant since opening back in August.
“The first time we got hit, we posted on social media, ‘Hey we’ve got our first supervillain,’ so this time we were like, okay, there’s more villains in Gotham now,” said Knight.
She says joking about the break-ins helps get through the day but she hopes police or someone from the community will recognize the criminals.
“It’s not worth it at all. Most businesses don’t keep cash overnight. You’re just risking jail time, probation, whatever else may come along with it for nothing,” she said.