A series of business robberies in several neighborhoods in northeast San Diego have shaken business owners and put police on high alert. Management believes the same person may be involved in the crime.
Surveillance video from Perfect Pizza in Rancho Bernardo shows a suspect wearing a hoodie breaking through the front door with a sledgehammer around 4 a.m. Monday.
The suspect first threw away the cash register containing coins, then dragged the safe out the front door.
Hector Davila’s daughter received an alert on her phone from the store’s smart camera. They watched the crime unfold helplessly from their homes and called the police.
“At first you’re offended, but then you’re filled with anger and rage because you’re being assaulted,” said Davila, the owner.
Davila’s business is not the only one being targeted.
San Diego police said they are investigating whether the same person may have broken into Subway and Todo Sushi on Carroll Canyon Road in Scripps Ranch at the same time Monday morning. They are also investigating whether the person was responsible for past robberies.
Earlier this month, surveillance video from Yogurt Heaven in Scripps Ranch showed a robber entering the store with a sledgehammer. The incident occurred on October 10th. The suspect was wearing a red hoodie and black pants.
This is similar to the suspect who was caught on camera using a sledgehammer to break into 4S Ranch Mexican restaurant Ponce’s around 3:30 a.m. on Oct. 18. Two other stores, including Mostro Coffee, were also targeted on the same day.
When NBC 7 showed the video of Davila, the suspect in the 4S Ranch crime, he said, “He looks exactly like the person who came in here.”
Davila said Monday was the second time in the past six weeks that his store and other businesses in Rancho Bernardo have been broken into. His first day was September 13th.
The suspects were able to drag the safe into the getaway car on Monday, but there was no cash inside, Davila said.
Although the store wasn’t making a profit, he said the high cost of repairing the doors was difficult for his 4-1/2-year-old family business, which employs his children, to accept.
“That $1,500 could have been paid to one of my children as a paycheck for the week,” Davila said.
