Iconic San Francisco business Mitchell's Ice Cream hit by burglars
For 71 years, the family-owned Mitchell's Ice Cream on San Jose Avenue, near 29th Street, in San Francisco has served up a lot of sweet memories and happiness.
"It has the perfect amount of milk, it's not too sugary, not too frothy, it's very smooth," said one customer of her mango-flavored ice cream.
Loyal customers come from all over the Bay Area just for the ice cream at this local institution.
"My top flavors will be the thin mint, the ube right here, mango, and I forgot to mention grasshopper pie," said South San Francisco resident Jeff Alvarez. "I've been coming to Mitchell's since I was a little boy, I think since I was 4 years old."
But a burglary on Friday morning before 3 o'clock left a bitter taste for the shop and its customers.
"We had a big chain, and they tried to cut it. But it was too tough to cut, so they gave up. The bolt cutter, they used that to break the big glass window," said Marlon Payumo, a manager at Mitchell's Ice Cream
Surveillance footage of the burglary showed thieves drove to the store in two cars. Five masked burglars entered the store through the broken front window despite the loud alarm sounding off.
"No fear. They were rushing, but no fear, that's the sad part," said Payumo.
They tried to take the safe that was bolted to the ground without success and left.
"They really left with nothing except with a bag of cookies," said Linda Mitchell, co-owner of Mitchell's.
But Mitchell said it'll cost them thousands of dollars to replace the large 8-foot by 7-foot window.
"Now, we're going to have to put a gate across the front at night. And I'm not looking forward to that, it's not going to look very good. But I just don't want to go through this again," said Mitchell.
Mitchell's Ice Cream is not alone. San Francisco police are investigating a string of commercial burglaries in the Bernal Heights Neighborhood.
Merchants said thieves have targeted at least four businesses within a block in the last month.
Half a block away from Mitchell's, a group of thieves broke into Rock Bar also around 3 o'clock in the morning about two weeks ago.
"They took our safe, they took our cash register, they took our computer," said Rock Bar co-owner Kevin Cline.
He said thieves pried open the front door and ransacked their office. He said they got away with thousands of dollars from the safe and cause even more damage to his bar.
"It's a violation. It does feel like a wound, and it's a little embarrassing," said Cline.
The owner of Cafe Seventy8 said someone also broke a window to try to get in last week, but their security system stopped the burglar from going in. And neighbors said thieves also hit up a marijuana dispensary across the street.
"Hopefully, they catch these folks so we can have a little bit more peace," said Cline.
Payumo agrees, saying they're just trying to survive.
"It's small business, to be targeted, it just hurts," said Payumo.
San Francisco police and the affected businesses said no one has been arrested in any of these recent cases.