Breakfast break-in at Box Office Cafe
STAFF tips, a till system, an iPad and float money were among items taken by thieves during an early morning breakin at Box Office Cafe yesterday.
Two offenders forced their way into the shipping container cafe in Geelong West about 6.30am before making away with an estimated $3500 worth of cash and equipment.
It’s believed the thieves took off with the entire till system after failing to get the drawer open before being disrupted by a worker arriving for her shift.
The 10 CCTV cameras on site helped captured footage of two thieves dressed in hoodies and gloves during the incident.
An external camera also captured the numberplate of a white VZ commodore used as a getaway car.
Box Office Cafe owner Mark Stawicki said it was the third time in as many years Box Office had been targeted.
It’s been a particularly rough week for the cafe whose trade was also impacted by the recent Telstra and NAB outages.
“It’s a bit deflating. This has hurt us bad, the triple whammy that I have copped has put me back a lot,” Mr Stawicki said.
“It all adds up, we’re only small.
“Insurance isn’t covering this because it’s happened so many times.
“I am more upset about them stealing the tips. There was $800-$1000 in there and the staff work hard for them. We share the money around and spend it on team experiences.”
Mr Stawicki said business owners on Pakington St and surrounds are all too familiar with the pain inflicted by thieves.
Across town, East Geelong cafe Lucy Locket’s was broken into for the second time in a month over the weekend.
Mr Stawicki believes more CCTV in public places is the key to bringing the problem under control, if not through deterrence then by helping to put the pieces of the puzzle together to catch the culprits.
“In general, cameras in streets are really helpful because even if other businesses have partial footage and saw the offenders run off or a car travelling down a certain way, that can help,” he said.
Anyone with information is asked to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or Geelong Police’s high volume crime team on 5225 3170.