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My place got robbed last night...

T

TangoPizza

New member
Around 4am alarm company calls me and i make it there before the cops window busted they took the change we had in the drawer and thats about it… this is the 2nd time my place is being robbed and its a good area where it located.

last time they took the cash register and there was like 100 bux in it… and everything costed me $600 last time

today around $400 wwith the window being replaced… i wish i cought the mf… i wouldve shot him in the head.

😦 sad day
 
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Mine got burgularized about 3 or four weeks ago. They caught the guy a couple weeks ago after hitting 23 other places. Ex employee of mine. I’ll bet the judge lets him off with a slap on the wrist! :x
 
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sorry to hear that,
seems like it happens to pizzeria’s more than other places, except liqour stores,
hope it is behind you soon,
Otis
 
Sorry to hear about the break-in. Sounds like you might need a video surveillance camera to keep an eye on the store during the night. I was recently in a store where the owner was using a (Game Camera) from Cabela’s. This is a low cost camera ($69.00) that is used to photograph wildlife during the night time hours. It uses an infrared flash so it isn’t detected by that being photographed and it can be set up to record multiple still shots, or up to 15-seconds of video multiple times. Be sure to install an increased memory storage card ($15.00) and you can shoot video or stills all night long I won’t tell you how it was hidden, but it was pretty easy to do, and the exposed parts look a lot like a smoke detector. Operates off of batteries so it can be placed just about anyplace where it can look over the targeted areas of your shop. It won’t stop the issue, but with a little luck you may be able to provide the police with some very interesting photographs.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor
 
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I have a top quality video system that caught the whole thing. Problem was the robber kept covered wearing a hoodie, something over his face gloves ect. Couldn’t even tell what color he was, just aprox height, clothes ect.
 
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Wow, I really do feel bad for you. You’ve got video, you don’t keep enough money around to make the crime pay, have you discussed the situation with your local police department? By this I mean, have you gone to them and asked to have one of their public service officers come over to your store to take a look at it to determine why the store looks like such an easy “mark”. It could be as simple as the outside lighting, placement of shrubbery, anything that might make a thief feel more comfortable/secure when entering your store.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor
 
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In our store’s office we had a giant old electronic safe that came as part of the equipment package when we opened up. Could never get the combination and having a locksmith work on it would have cost more than it was worth, so it just sat there empty taking up space… we wondered how we would ever get rid of darn thing.

Then a few months back two guys smashed the front window, grabbed one of our dough tray caddies, and somehow managed to wheel the monster out and down the alley to their car. The whole thing was caught on a neighbor’s surveillance camera - the police were amazed at how quickly at all happened.

Every time I try and imagine the look on those thieves faces when they finally broke that safe open only to find it TOTALLY EMPTY, I can’t help but laugh. Sweet justice!
 
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brad randall:
Every time I try and imagine the look on those thieves faces when they finally broke that safe open only to find it TOTALLY EMPTY, I can’t help but laugh. Sweet justice!
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Kinda like the Geraldo Rivera special on Capone’s vault years ago. A lot of work for NADA !!
 
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You got burgled, not robbed. A robbery involves someone being there on your end of things. Burglery ends well every time… no one gets hurt. Robbery never ends well… no one may get hurt, but you almost always lose an employee out of fear.

As unlucky as you feel, you’re lucky.
 
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Great story! I love it! Sweet Justice is right!! Did you get your dolly back? Those things are a bit pricey you know.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor
 
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We had the SWAT team out to one of our places a few weeks ago - and our robbery turned into a 5 hour standoff. At least this time a thug was caught.
 
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Hopefully he gave up without an incident. I ain’t no fun when they go the route of tear gas and “shots fired”, it makes your clean-up of the aftermath a lot more difficult. Back in the 70’s I saw a store where the thief decided to make his “last stand”, what a mess, the cooler and freezer were all shot up, not to mention damage to the structure and fixtures. Than, the store was closed off as it was a “crime scene”, I don’t know how long it was closed, but I’d bet it was for more than a day ot two, probably more like a couple weeks before it was back open again. My nephew is a police officer in the Chicago area, a couple years ago he and his partner wer called to a break-in at a restaurant during the night, he took the front door, his partner took the back door, thief decides to exit through the rear door, but fires a shotgun blast through the door before he exits through it, the officer just happened to be in the line of fire and took the blast in the chest. He was severly injured, but lived thanks to his bullet-proof vest. Yes, the guy was apprehended. Moral of the story, while you may have a lot invested in your store, and you want to put the “scum” away for very long time, don’t rush to your store before the police, it isn’t worth your life.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor
 
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Okay, now a bedtime story from my wife’s crazy side of the family…

David, my wife’s much older alcoholic creepy half-brother from her father’s first marriage, told us that everyone should count on being burglarized and to take steps. He had of course. He said sitting on his TV was a VCR (this was years ago — thankfully he is dead now). A “special” VCR. This VCR, not plugged in, contained several sticks of dynamite. When the burglar got home and plugged it in – kaboom. He said if we heard an explosion, we would know his house “had been robbed”. I informed him that most stolen exectronics are just sold at flea markets and the like and the people getting blown up would most likely be an innocent family. He just laughed. Glad the dude is dead and that he only showed up a few times when he was alive. He defined “creepy”.
 
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well my cash register is open all the time when i leave no money but they saw thru the window that its open why break in again? thsi is the 2nd time and i think its the same people…
 
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i always leave both drawers on my two front workstations open with my $100 in each.

i am hoping if that ever happens that will suffice without doing any damage to my POS that would be more expensive
 
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Most crooks are not among the brightest bulbs on the string, and for the most part, they seem to be slow learners too. Your story just puts anogher log on that fire. I just love some of the stories about the escapades of dumb crooks. Like the one about the crook who tried to play Santa by attempting to enter the business through the chimney and got stuck in it. Hey! It’s getting cold in here! Would someone please light a fire?
Or how about the so called “soprano burgler”? Seems this guy held up a convenience store and as he was leaving he stuck his gun down the front of his pants, it discharged, hence his AKA, police just waited for him to drive over to the nearest hospital. Ouch! That hurt!!
In one of the books that I’ve read “Ghost Towns of the Old West” there is a story about a bank robber who was making a pest of himself by robbing banks and shooting people. One day he was caught, but he struck a deal with the local sheriff just before his sentence was to be carried out. He made a harness that would support him while he was supposedly hanged. It worked. He survived the hanging, but what he didn’t figure on was that his hands would be tied behind his back and there was no way to free himself. Now the best part…it was winter, and the customary practice was to allow the guest of honor to remain at the party until the following morning, when he would be cut down and disposed of in whatever manner. When they came to cut him down they discovered his harness, and that he didn’t die as a result of hanging, seems it got a bit chilly that night and he froze to death. Oops, wasn’t supposed to turn out that way…remember? Dumb crooks.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor
 
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Thanks, now I know where I can pick up $200.00 if I’m ever in a bind. LOL
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor
 
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famouspizza:
i always leave both drawers on my two front workstations open with my $100 in each.

i am hoping if that ever happens that will suffice without doing any damage to my POS that would be more expensive
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Wait. Let me understand. You think the crook will take the $100 and in appreciation not try to take the POS as well? I am not sure that is gonna work. I think the $200 is just adding more incentive.

Leaving the cash drawers open, though, is recommended by most because they ARE gonna get in it one way or another.

Some other tips are:
  1. Invest in a decent alarm system with battery and cellular backups. Make sure that you pay any alarm permit fee required by your municipality or county. In Fort Worth, if you don’t they will not respond to an alarm unless someone verifies an actual intrusion.
  2. Steel frame doors with double cylinder locks (requires key on both sides)
  3. Keep some lights on and registers within window view. Don’t block windows with landscaping or window dressings/posters/signs. Burglars don’t like visibility.
  4. With all the copper thefts, do whatever you can to protect your electrical lines and HVAC equipment, even on the roof (including alarm system trips)
  5. Get a decent fireproof safe and anchor it. Some even get floor safes in order to make bank drops during the next day’s business hours.
Lastly, know your employees and control access. Alarm codes should be individualized. Be careful who gets keys and change locks when those employees leave… even if you think they left on good terms. Remember that it is the owner/manager’s responsibility to not only be proactive in securing the premises, but also to not create a situation where an employee is unduly brought under suspicion. So make sure you have separate security codes for the alarm and a clear understanding whose responsibility it is to set it.

A lot of this is common sense. I know in our community the local police will come out and do a security evaluation for free. This is a good way to also establish a relationship with them.
 
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Ive been broke into and robbed 3 times in the last year. The last time I was standing in the parking lot @ 3 in the morning wondering why they always hit me. As I started looking around, I was the darkest building on the block. Didnt realize the landlord had my lights on timers that dimmed the parking lot and outside building lights at 1am. Now I make sure the lights stay on bright all night and added one by the drive thru window. I never thought about it until I looked at it. It was probably the most comfortable place to break in. Now the ones that throw a cinder block through your front window on a busy street, I wish someone would just shoot them. Hope it helps, make sure your doors and windows are well lit even when your closed. I always leave my cash register wide open and empty now, even of change. While I do have a safe, I usually lock the money in a different spot and keep changing it whenever someone gets fired or quits.
 
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