Two downtown businesses were hit by burglars last week with one owner believing it was a “planned” operation.
“These weren’t just some random break-ins,” said Thomas Johnson, owner of Tom’s on Main. “They turned down security lights and cameras. I think it was all planned based on what they did.”
Johnson said the glass front of his Main Street restaurant was kicked in around 2:30 a.m. last Friday.
“When they kicked in the glass, my alarm went off,” he said. “But they were able to jump in and take my Ipad that I use as a sale system. They grabbed it and ran back out.”
Once officers arrived on the scene, Johnson said he was shocked to also discover that some doors of the Main Street Hotel had also been kicked in around the same time.
“It has to be the same people because it was so similar,” Johnson said.
Johnson said personal security systems and the city’s downtown video surveillance system do have footage of a person walking down the sidewalk moments before the incident.
“Cameras, both personal and the city’s system, were turned down (by the suspect),” Johnson said. “They knew where the cameras were.”
This is the second time Tom’s on Main has been hit by burglars. A similar incident occurred last year when a suspect broke the front glass of the popular eatery.
Surveillance systems were able to connect that suspect to a number of burglaries in the downtown area at that time.
Attempts to reach Chief Jeff Curtis were unsuccessful as of press time.
