Burglaries Come in Crosstown Pairs

Two business burglaries and a theft within a short distance of one another late Wednesday or early Thursday were almost certainly the work of the same subjects, Tosa police said.

One of those businesses had been robbed just a week-and-a-half earlier.

In a more unusual case, two other break-ins appeared to have hit the same business across town on successive nights.

According to police reports:

At 6:38 a.m. Thursday, police were called to , 6204 W. North Ave., on a report of a break-in. The owner of the business told officers that some time since 5:50 p.m. Wednesday the back door of the building had been forced.

Seeing the door open, he did not enter and immediately called police. Officers found the door had been pried open near the deadbolt and, upon entering, that the cash register drawer was lying empty on the floor. Some items in an office and the kitchen had been disturbed, but nothing else was stolen.

The owner said he leaves no cash in the register overnight. Only a small amount of change was lost.

Double unhappiness

At 10:30 a.m. Thursday, the owner of , 6119 W. North Ave., reported that some time since 10:30 p.m. the night before someone had broken into the business through a side door and rifled the cash register.

Police found that someone had punched out the screen and then pushed in a hinged panel in the door that is used for ventilating the kitchen. The burglar was then able to reach in and unlatch the door.

The restaurant had been robbed on Oct. 17 by man who entered and snatched cash from the register just after opening, while the owner had briefly left it unattended.

Police believe those two burglaries, on opposite sides of the street but not even a block apart, as well as a nearby theft, were related. Police reports on the details of the theft were not available.

And again, double trouble

On the other side of Tosa, another pair of burglaries appeared to have targeted the same business on successive nights.

At 11:46 p.m. Friday, a resident of an apartment building at 10512 Blue Mound Road reported a suspicious subject and an attempted burglary to a business in the building.

She told police that as she pulled into the parking lot, she saw a white male in his early 20s, about 6 feet tall and 120 pounds and wearing a black hoodie, black track pants and tennis shoes, standing near the door to Anointed Hands massage therapy.

By the time she parked her car and got out, she said, the man had disappeared. She then noticed that a window to the Allied Staffing business had been broken, and she called police.

Because large shards of glass were still lodged in the lower frame, it was thought that no one had entered. Then, the investigating officer was told that police had been sent to Allied Staffing at 10:50 a.m. to investigate a successful burglary the night before in which a laptop computer had been stolen.

The window had not been broken at the time, so either different burglars just happened to pick the same business to hit, or the same burglar tried to return for more goods the following night. Police did not say which they thought more likely.

No report with details on the earlier of the two break-ins at Allied was available.