SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A Sacramento business owner is sounding the alarm after thieves broke into his restaurant and karaoke lounge on Freeport Boulevard.
Surveillance video shared with ABC10 by the owners shows the moments two thieves smashed the glass door of the combination karaoke lounge, restaurant and bubble tea shop.
The video shows one suspect head for a cash drawer at the front register, ripping away cords to get it free. A second person ransacks the drawers below and then heads to the bar/bubble tea counter to grab another cash drawer.
All this happening in a matter of minutes around 4 a.m. Wednesday.
“Tell other small business owners to be on alert. We don’t know if this is one group hitting certain restaurants or if they’re part of a bigger organization,” said Enrikke Valentino, co-owner of Star KTV Lounge.
Neighboring Sushi Cafe and Temple Garden on Broadway were also broken into. The three businesses were all hit in the same night.
Valentino wants to alert other businesses to burglaries like this to help other owners avoid becoming targets.
"I just want people to make sure you turn on your alarm at the end of the night, don't keep anything visible that might attract the wrong crowd, make sure your camera work and just be on alert," Valentino said.
The owners of Star KTV Lounge filed a report with Sacramento Police.
They cleaned up the broken glass and replaced the door at Star KTV Lounge. Valentino said thankfully, the cash stolen was minimal because most people pay with credit card. However, he estimates there is a few thousand dollars in damage to electronics, plus the cost of repairing the door.
"During the pandemic, a lot of my colleagues closed and the ones that survived--it's kind of sad that we're suffering now, we're still suffering with things like this happening to us," Valentino said.
Valentino said he wants those involved to be caught so this doesn't happen again.
