Downtown restaurant owners are shocked and bewildered over a pair of baffling early morning burglaries earlier this month.
In one, the burglars put pizza boxes over the front windows in an effort not to have their sticky fingers noticed by patrolling police while in the other they made a significant effort to be tidy during their nefarious deed.
Innisfail RCMP Const. Cindie Dennis confirmed that Domino's Pizza on Main Street and the Coffee Cottage at 5112 ñ 49 Ave. were victims of break and enters during the early morning hours of Jan. 13.
Jodi Desjardins, owner of the Coffee Cottage, said she came to work at 3:15 a.m. and did not immediately notice anything out of order.
ìI did not realize it was broken into because everything was so neat,î she said. Nothing was out of place. The groceries we had bought the night before were exactly where we had left them.î
However, Desjardins said she found it ìoddî that the cash float was sitting on the counter but continued to the kitchen to make bread.
But it still bothered her and she called her husband Joe as she was concerned to discover that $130 in $5 bills and toonies was missing. After the call she discovered that the eatery's second front door was open and the deadbolt removed. Police were then notified.
ìIt was a very quick and clean job. These guys were just looking for petty cash,î said Desjardins, noting the burglars placed the deadbolt in a dishpan.
She said the incident was particularly upsetting as it is costing her more money to fix the door than the $130 that was stolen.
Desjardins said she has now implemented new security measures to prevent potential future burglaries.
Meanwhile, across the road on Main Street, burglars hit Domino's Pizza in the same time frame.
Tyler De Freitas, the outlet's owner, said the burglars managed to get in through the front door after hours but he is not sure how.
ìThey were pretty brazen to come through the front door,î said De Freitas. ìYou don't think you are going to get robbed being on Main Street. The RCMP are supposed to be on Main Street doing their patrols.î
De Freitas said once the burglars got into the eatery they covered up the front windows with pizza boxes.
He said the culprits then damaged security cameras and the safe, and made off with $600.
The RCMP said last week the burglars used a ìmini-grinderî to open the top of the safe, which was also used in a similar break and enter at a Red Deer Burger King outlet that same morning.
If any citizen has additional information on either of these break-ins he or she is asked to contact Innisfail RCMP at 403-227-3342 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or via Internet at www.tipsubmit.com
