Bar/grill & gas station targeted in string of Morongo Valley burglaries
Two family-run businesses in Morongo Valley have been targeted in a string of burglaries, according to the owners.
Sand to Snow Monument Bar and Grill was burglarized twice this month, owner and manager James Edward said. And All American Fuel & Food was burglarized between 3 and 4 a.m. Wednesday, with more than $9,000 of goods stolen, owner Nicholas Nikyar said. Police say the crimes are connected.
“We’re all just heartbroken. Just demoralized. Everything. Just gone,” said Nicholas Nikyar, an employee at All American Fuel & Food. “(The thieves) just went through everything – got all the cigarettes, got all the cartons that were below to stock them, got all these cigarillos, even got some condoms for himself… Most of the condoms are gone because he took them.”
Security footage shows a suspect making five trips in and out of the store, wiping them clean.
“Probably means me and my sister don’t get paid for the month,” Nikyar said. “We have to cut back the next couple of months to try to pay back for what this guy took.”
In the weeks prior, the owners of Sand to Snow Monument Bar and Grill had their business burglarized too, just up the street from the gas station.
“The doors were broken into and the cash cage had been taken apart and they took a lot of money,” James Edwards said. He and his wife Lisa own the bar.
The thieves stole the cash they had on site, as well as all the profits from inside the bar’s jukebox.
“We were worried about them coming back and (police) said it’s highly unlikely that they would come back, but they did come back the following Monday and did break in,” Edwards said.
Police said at both locations, they believe it’s the same suspects.
The victims are living in fear of another burglary — or something worse.
“He broke in here – you feel scared,” Nikyar said. “You’re worried if it’s going to get worse next time. Or if he’s just going to come back when we’re actually here and think it’s easy enough to take it just by using force.”
The Edwards had a message for the suspects:
“That’s all we are we’re just every day people and you’ve taken from us,” Lisa Edwards said. “You’ve taken it from all of us.”
“If we hit tough times we just work harder,” James Edwards said.
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