Caught On Video: Suspect In 18 Commercial Burglaries Across Manhattan
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) - That's one busy burglar.
Police are looking for a man taking advantage of closed bars and restaurants. They say he's robbed nearly 20 of them, and it's not just money he's taking.
Police say the man has helped himself to whatever he can get his hands on in bars and restaurants forced to close either partially or entirely pandemic.
Video from April 21 at Marlow Bistro on Amsterdam Avenue shows him breaking in around 10 p.m. He made off with $500 and two Apple iPads.
Police say he cuts through the vinyl door entrances and damages glass front doors to gain entry.
The suspect has allegedly broken into at least 18 place and has stolen about $30,000 in cash, alcohol and electronics.
His pattern stretches all over: The Lower East Side, Midtown, Upper West Side, Harlem.
Blue seafood bar was broken into on Ninth Avenue. Kasia Banas owns Route 66, which is next door.
"We are struggling. This is…i f you break the window and you steal a couple bottles of liquor, it's not the liquor you are stealing. It's the expense we have to go through to fix those windows and we can't afford it," Banas said.
Her restaurant was broken into weeks ago, and $200 was stolen, but it was not one of the places listed in this pattern.
Debbie Kavourias owns the hardware store on the other side of Blue, which has been there for decades. She's never heard of this many break-ins before.
"Not like this. Never like this. And I'm surprised, because there's cameras," she said. "We're struggling. Everybody here is struggling, and when things like this happen, it's very scary.
The NYPD says while overall crime is down, burglary is up from this time last year by nearly 26%.
The last incident for this pattern took place Monday.
Anyone with any information is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477), or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). You can also submit a tip via their website or on Twitter, @NYPDTips. All calls are kept confidential.
