PORTLAND -- Detectives are investigating a string of burglaries on Alberta Street in Northeast Portland.
Crooks have hit Radio Room, Tin Shed, and Vita Café over the past week. In fact, on Monday night, a busted door frame greeted diners at Vita Café. Only hours earlier, burglars broke inside the well known restaurant.
“Here they managed to disengage the alarm, break-in through the front door, get the safe, find the cash register drawer,” said owner Aaron Woo.
The crooks got away with more than $3,000 in cash, but that is not all. They also made off with more than $300 in liquor and $200 in food. “These guys had a purpose, followed a pattern,” added Woo. “They knew how to disengage the alarm, get in quickly, and they knew how to silence everything so they weren't seen,” he said.
Over the week, according to investigators, burglars have also hit the Radio Room and the Tin Shed. Both establishments, like Vita Café, are on NE Alberta Street. “I think all the neighborhood business associations should be notified,” added Woo. “Hustling and bustling restaurants or bars or retailers, they should know to keep less money in safe,” he said.
And to make matters even worse, the owner of Black Cat Café on Alberta said his staff was traumatized when somebody robbed one of his clerks at gunpoint last Thursday morning. “I think my employee was more shook up than anything else,” added owner Brendan O’Malley. “I feel for them, not so much for the money I lost, but nobody wants to go to work and have a gun pointed at them.”
It is a sense of concern in the wake of a crime spree that has business owners along Alberta both afraid and frustrated. “We work hard for our money, do things right, and then to get violated like that, it's a challenge, definitely,” added Woo.
If you know anything about these cases you are urged to call the Portland Police Bureau.
