Several Downtown Palo Alto restaurants burglarized over holiday break
Several Downtown Palo Alto restaurants burglarized over holiday break
Restaurant owners in Downtown Palo Alto are on edge after several eateries were targeted by burglars over the past two weeks. Four restaurants were hit by thefts in the past 10 days, and some appear to be connected, the Palo Alto Police Department confirmed to KTVU. KTVU's Tori Gaines reports from Palo Alto.
PALO ALTO, Calif. - Restaurant owners in Downtown Palo Alto are on edge after several eateries were targeted by burglars over the past two weeks.
Four restaurants were hit by thefts in the past 10 days, and some appear to be connected, the Palo Alto Police Department confirmed to KTVU.
The food and beverage industry is very slowly rebounding from the impacts of the pandemic, and small business owners tell KTVU that it’s a particularly hard time for them to handle the cost of a break-in. Especially one that leaves thousands of dollars in damages behind.
Video shared by the owners of Coupa Cafe on Ramona Street shows a perpetrator trying desperately to break into a cash register around 1 a.m. Tuesday. The owner tells KTVU that the suspects made off with at least $1,000 in cash.
Burglary suspect inside of Coupa Cafe on Dec. 31, 2024 (Photo courtesy Coupa Cafe)
Video shows the burglar pocketing the cash as they appear to look around the floor for a safe. Coupa Café’s owners say they are grateful they don’t keep a safe with cash on hand in the business.
"This is an organized crime wave targeting Palo Alto restaurants. The thieves think that restaurants have cash on the premises. They have not kept up with the realities of restaurants where everything is credit cards and qr codes," Nancy Coupal, co-owner of Coupa Cafe told KTVU.
Coupal shared photos of the suspect seen unmasked and wearing a hoodie.
Just around the corner on University Avenue you'll find restaurant Local 271, which was hit by burglars days before Christmas. Management at that location tells KTVU the burglars got to the business’s safe and caused thousands of dollars of property damage in the process.
Just across the street, restaurant Nola was also hit by burglars the day after Christmas. That time, burglars made off with another safe full of cash.
Each of these locations is less than a half-mile away from Palo Alto police headquarters.
"Palo Alto Police Department had showed up to the space, but they only flashed their lights through the back door though it was wide open. I called them back and said, ‘You need to go back into the space there is somebody who burglarized us…’ [they said] ‘OK, now we have your permission, we can go in," JP Coupal, co-owner of Coupa Cafe tells KTVU. Coupal says he isn’t sure why police would ask for permission to enter when a burglary was in progress. P.A.P.D. did not confirm this series of events to KTVU.
Coupa Café's owners tell KTVU they are ready for a change.
"It’s really time for Palo Alto to get organized to combat this type of crime. Even after police are dispatched, the thieves still do their dirty work because they know the system. They know how long it’s gonna take for the police to respond, and they go in and out at leisure," Nancy Coupal said.
The PAPD has scheduled a meeting on Monday with the Palo Alto Chamber of Commerce for business owners. Coupa Cafe's owners tell KTVU they are hopeful that the meeting will be fruitful.