LA MESA, Calif. (KGTV) - Two hooded burglars hit two businesses two feet apart early Tuesday morning. They made off with thousands of dollars inside one safe.
The owners of Brew Coffee Spot in La Mesa said it happened around 3:30 a.m. Security video shows what looks like two men wearing hoodies crack the glass door at Little Caeser’s Pizza.
“There was no alarm that was that was going off,” said Brew Coffee Spot co-owner Ralf Wilkowski.
Wilkowski said the thieves hammered at a safe inside the pizzeria for about five minutes but got nothing.
“Didn’t really get anything, so they took a glance at our shop,” said Joe Paraiso, the other Brew Coffee Spot owner.
Security video shows the duo smash the glass door into the coffee shop and run inside. The coffee shop does have an alarm and instantly goes off. The video shows the two run to the back, find a safe that wasn’t bolted to the floor, and leave through the back door.
“They went really fast. They went looking for a safe, unfortunately, they found one,” said Paraiso.
“If you look at their actions and if you look at their speed and efficiency, it’s not the first time that they did that,” said Wilkowski. “That was devastating because the night before I had counted the money and I knew how much was in there.”
The owners said the safe contained thousands of dollars that hadn’t been deposited from the previous weekend.
“It’s disbelief,” said Wilkowski. “It’s really just, how can someone do that?”
“It’s depressing, yeah, because we worked so hard. Our employees worked very hard,” said Paraiso.
“We wanted to give a little bit as an extra surprise to our employees as a Christmas bonus,” sighed Wilkowski.
The two filed a report with La Mesa Police and did their own detective work. They found security video at the gas station across the street that matches their security video. Paraiso said the burglars parked a getaway car at the station. The video shows a silver Kia Optima with tinted windows but the license plates were removed.
“It’s depressing. It’s actually, it’s a feeling of being violated,” said Wilkowski.
