Seven stores on the Upper West Side were breached overnight last week. The shocking tally prompted the local district chief to flood the streets with cops at night.
Police said the robbery occurred between Sunday night and early Monday morning and have identified at least one suspect on the run.
In most cases, the thief broke the glass and made his way to the cash register.
Gazala Halavi told Fox5 that he “doesn’t feel safe anymore” after the Gazala restaurant on Amsterdam’s 81st and 82nd streets was damaged and $600 was confiscated.
The messy scorecard included:
A Spiga to Go on West 84th Street was robbed, breaking down a glass door and stealing money from a cash register, police said.
At the Rosetta Bakery on Broadway and 64th Street, I lost my laptop.
The Joe Coffee Company on Columbus Avenue between 69th and 70th Streets has cash and a laptop.
Billy’s Bakery, located between 79th and 80th streets in Columbus, was robbed and the cash register and dough (such as cookies) were stolen. Officials said the registers were found on West 79th Street and Columbus.
Luke’s Lobster on 80th and 81st Streets in Amsterdam saw its front window broken.
Blossom in Columbus lost a bottle of alcohol because a thirsty thief used a chair to break the front window. Surveillance video captured images of a robber breaking into a vegan restaurant, police said.
“Basically, he took one of the metal chairs outside and smashed it through the window,” general manager Kylie Etling told the outlet.
20th Precinct Commander Lieutenant Neil Zuber said investigators had identified suspects in five of the seven pending break-ins, but did not elaborate.
“You will see [cops] Outside… Instead of working during the day, we work at night to catch people, knock on trees, and then lock them up,” Zuber told the local community council.
The first reports of a string of intrusions were made by the West Side Rag.