Burglars break into GameStop, steal eggs from Elio's in San Leandro: police

East Bay smash-and-grab burglars steal electronics, eggs

San Leandro police suspect the same group was behind two recent break-ins.

SAN LEANDRO, Calif. - Smash and grab burglars hit three East Bay businesses this Christmas Eve, leaving business owners scrambling.

San Leandro police are connecting two of the break-ins to the same group of suspects.

It was a brazen start to Christmas Eve at Elio’s Family Restaurant, where surveillance video captured five suspects in three different vehicles breaking in just after 5:30 a.m.

"Pried the office door open and proceeded to cut into the safe," said the second-generation owner James Eliopoulos, who told KTVU the team of suspects surprised the cook and told him to get out.

They got away with $3,000, tequila, and several cases full of eggs which are now hard to come by.

"This gets under my skin," said Eliopoulos. "No one likes this. You feel violated. Someone comes in and breaks your door. This is your house basically. I grew up here."

San Leandro police told KTVU the same group of suspects later crashed their vehicle right through the front door of the GameStop at Fashion Fair Place just after 6 a.m.

Employees are now dealing with what they said is their third break-in in two weeks.

"They knew what they were doing," said GameStop clerk King Sanford. "They went immediately to the back, and they used a handsaw to cut the lock off the doors, and they took whatever they could, a lot of PS5’s, Nintendo Switches."

San Leandro police would nab two of the suspects at the store, while two others led officers on a car chase, before crashing, where one suspect was caught, and another got away.

One of the suspects ended up in the hospital after the car chase ended in a collision with another vehicle.

In nearby Hayward, repairs were underway on Tuesday, after Lego retailer Brick-by-Brick got hit twice on the same day.

Two different groups of people within a three-hour time span would ram their cars into Michael Marinkis’s business.

"It just sucks," said Marinkis. "It makes me feel, I don’t know, less safe, and it’s a place where I want people to come and feel safe and a place where I want people to come and share their passion that they have."

The loss is about $10,000 worth of damage and merchandise.

It’s not the first smash and grab at Brick-by-Brick, with another incident on Halloween, and shoplifting is becoming common, according to Marinkis.

"Just makes it more difficult to keep going, to keep running things, and to keep supporting a family off of it," said Marinkis.

Adding to the loss, he missed out on last-minute shoppers after being forced to close on Christmas Eve to repair the damage.

All three businesses are now looking at improving their security systems.

Eggs are at a premium nationwide right now, as the bird flu has been affecting the production of millions of poultry eggs and their prices.

Some egg brands are selling for $11 a carton at Bay Area groceries, and Trader Joe's has an extremely limited supply. If the eggs are even in stock, TJ's has been limiting them to one carton a customer.