Owners of seven Orange County businesses spent the weekend and Monday morning on costly repairs.
The thefts took place between 4 a.m. and 4:30 a.m. Saturday. All of the restaurants are in Santa Margarita, and detectives were working to determine if the same people were responsible for all of the break-ins.
Daniel Gorman, manager of Mountain Mike’s Pizza, said it appeared the thieves knew what they were doing when they raided his restaurant.
“The way they did it, walking into the restaurant it looked like they were looking for something, like they were specifically going, I think, to the safes in the restaurant,” he said. declared.
Surveillance video from the pizzeria captured what appeared to be two men wearing hoodies and face coverings breaking through the front door and heading straight for the safe. Gorman said they used a crowbar to try to pull the latches off the bottom of the safe.
The thieves did not receive any money, but left the restaurant with expensive repairs.
Le Caafé de Lulu, a family restaurant that just opened in December, was another of the restaurants targeted. “They took my money – $500,” owner Sam Bholse said.
If you recognize him, call 911.
As was the case at Mountain Mike’s Pizza, surveillance video from Lulu’s Caafé showed a pair of robbers wearing hoodies and face masks. They also had a drill and other power tools with them.
Bholse, a father of three, now has nearly $2,000 in repairs.
“It’s not a lot of money. But now, you know, like every night, I go to sleep worried about the restaurant,” he said. “I don’t know how these people can live with this kind of activity in their lives.”