Valley restaurant owners warn of several business break-ins
Several valley restaurant owners are warning about recent break-ins at their businesses.
Security footage shows overnight burglars breaking into Willie's Modern Fare in Rancho Mirage earlier this month.
Putting on gloves outside a back door, a masked and hooded is seen smashing the glass and climbing inside.
"They came in with what looked like a sledgehammer and a jigsaw," said the restaurant's co-owner Willie Rhine. "They were ready to cut maybe some metal or it looked like they wanted a safe."
Retracing the burglars' steps, Rhine said it seemed the group knew their way around and took the fastest, most direct route to the office before kicking in the door.
Nothing was taken, and Rhine said his alarm system is what stopped a potential theft in action.
"I don't know if it's former employees, I don't know if they know the facilities that they’re breaking into," he said. "I don't know if they believe that it's an easy target. It's kind of strange that it's happening to the restaurant industry right now."
He said his business was hit right after a neighboring restaurant, Kobe Steakhouse, which did have property stolen.
Around the same time earlier this month, two more Rancho Mirage restaurants were broken into – The Slice and Maracas Cantina, just days apart.
"They went through this restaurant and took whatever they wanted," said Maracas partner Jack Srebnik, who also formerly owned The Slice.
Srebnik said security cameras weren't in place during the incidents and $500 cash was stolen from Maracas' office – money that employees's tips.
"I think it's due to the inflation, the high prices of groceries, the high prices of gas," Srebnik said. "People are getting desperate and they feel that a restaurant has cash."
Next door at The Slice, a glass window was carefully removed but was not broken. Inside, the burglars made a mess, but nothing was stolen.
"I would love for them to come here. I have jobs for everybody," Srebnik said. "If you need to make a living, come. Every restaurant in this town needs workers."
The Slice and Maracas have installed new security systems as a result of these break-ins, an expense costing thousands of dollars.
News Channel 3 reported a 2019 burglary in the same location as Willie's, formerly called Bernie's. Rhine said he reviewed security footage from that incident but the suspects do not appear to be the same as in this recent break-in.
