STOCKTON, Calif. — Planks of wood cover the front windows at downtown Stockton restaurant Eat at Clark's. Inside, new security cameras keep an eye on what's going on.
"We're looking into private security," said Andre Clark, who owns the 6-month-old business along with his wife, Marissa. "We just want to push through this so we can be protected, so we keep going."
When Marissa and Andre started their catering business 10 years ago, they never thought they would one day be serving guests in a brick-and-mortar restaurant along Market Street in downtown Stockton.
They also never imagined spending mornings walking through shattered glass to open their front doors, but now it has become an unnervingly frequent occurrence.
"It started with our vehicle in the back, and then our front doors, and our windows and now our back door... so it's a lot," said Marissa. "We were looking just for a commercial kitchen, and this spot became available and so we took the commercial kitchen and the restaurant on."
Since opening the small business in January, the couple says burglars have shattered windows or broken locks to get into the restaurant six times.
In the past two weeks, windows were shattered twice and the restaurant's back door was broken once. Most recently, on Monday night, burglars allegedly stole a speaker and a Doordash tablet.
"They just take things that are more of an inconvenience," said Marissa. "They took our cash register, nothing was in it. But you know, it's an inconvenience of having to wait for a new one, or a DoorDash tablet. It's just more of a hassle than things monetarily being taken."
Marissa and Andre say they have taken measures to discourage burglars such as clearing out the restaurant of valuables each night, installing a security system and setting up surveillance cameras, but the burglars keep coming.
"We don't have anything in here but food," said Andre. "We don't leave any money. We leave our cash registers open so they can see that."
While the Stockton Police Department investigates the cases, the couple is asking the community for help and support. They are offering a $500 reward for information leading to an arrest.
Marissa and Andre are also encouraging guests to keep coming in as they serve up their classic Southern-style comfort food dishes with a side of resilience.
"We feel very blessed to be able to have the opportunity to show our children that you got to go after your dreams. You know, you can't be scared," said Marissa. "We just pray that more support comes our way and that this stops."
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