A CAFE owner says businesses almost expect to be hit by thieves after his Warrnambool cafe was broken into for the second time in the past 12 months.
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Police said at 11.45pm on Thursday night an offender used a jemmy bar to enter the rear door of Bohemia Cafe and Bar on Kepler Street.
Detective senior constable Wayne Ryan, from the Warrnambool Crime Investigation Unit, said the person then used the bar to steal a small safe which was bolted to a bench.
The safe contained staff tips and takings. Detective senior constable Ryan said police were reviewing CCTV footage and some items left behind by the offender maybe forensically tested.
Bohemia Cafe and Bar owner Steve Hickman said the alarm system went off just before midnight and by the time he and police arrived the offender had been and gone.
“It’s taken a short amount of time,” he said. Mr Hickman said the safe contained about $850 in staff tips and staff were devastated by the theft.
“They’ve been in there for about two minutes,” he said. “It’s an invasion of their privacy.”
Mr Hickman said the cafe had been burgled another time in the past 12 months and their Point Of Service system had been destroyed and a substantial amount of money was stolen.
“At the end of the day our philosophy is if you own a business you’ve got to expect it,” he said.
At the end of the day our philosophy is if you own a business you’ve got to expect it.
- Steve Hickman
“To some degree it’s becoming very normal. It’s very brazen and they’re getting good at it. We will need to beef up our security. There’s substantial damage to the exterior doors.” In another incident police are also investigating a burglary at Leske’s Jewellers Port Fairy about 4am Friday.
Detective senior constable Ryan said offenders attempted to enter the shop via a rear window and had then thrown a large sandstone rock at the front of the shop. They then stole watches valued at $2000. In a separate incident two rifles were stolen from a home in Ballater Street in south Portland.
The thefts happened during the past two weeks while the owner had been away. A locked cabinet was forced open and a .243 Remington and a Marlin 175 were stolen. Anyone with information should call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.