At least 10 Glendale businesses burglarized in 2 hours: Police

Burglars hit 10 Glendale restaurants in two hours

Officials said a group of thieves struck 10 restaurants in Glendale in a matter of hours.

GLENDALE, Calif. - An investigation was underway in Glendale after at least 10 businesses were burglarized just a couple of hours apart overnight, according to police.

Glendale Police investigators said the burglaries happened between 1 a.m. and 3 a.m. at several businesses on E. Colorado Street including China Food Express, Pizz Man, Rockbird, Cafe Bravo, Patar Shawarma, Herand's Kitchen, Munchies, and Stone Oven Pizza.

"They came in at 2:04am and literally within 2 minutes they were in and out," said Rockbird Co-Owner Joshua Company. "They got a couple of coins dimes, nickels... really much of nothing." But Company still said they did a lot of damage.

In another robbery at Stone Oven Pizza, worker Ricardo Gutierrez said a crew of five jumped from a car and into the store, making off with about $100 bucks.

"So, 5 guys they come in, they go to the register, couldn't open it, said there's change take it, and took the phone and slammed it into the phone," said Gutierrez.

Shant Tahmassian, the son of the owner of Herand's Kitchen, said they believe there may have been more than one crew at work, given the timeframe of the robberies.

Burglars hit 10 Glendale restaurants

A group of thieves struck 10 restaurants in the Glendale area overnight Saturday, all in a matter of hours.

Glendale Police Captain Rafael Quintero said that could be a possibility. "Usually it is not a crew acting independently," he said. "Oftentimes they are acting in concert across the LA County region."

City Councilman Ardy Kassakhian, speaking then as Mayor on FOX 11's In Depth, cited Glendale as "consistently one of the safest cities in the country. We are currently assessed as the fifth-safest city in the country for our size and larger."

Kassakhian said crime happens in Glendale just like anywhere. But, constituents like the co-owners of Redbird are worried the trend is turning in a bad direction. Co-owner Daniel Skaf said, "I was shocked especially the fact that I was born and raised in this city. I'm not used to this kind of stuff that happens here,"

Kassakhian responded saying, "To anyone who’s fearful about doing business in Glendale what I want to say is that Glendale is still one of the best places to open up a business. Bad things will happen, but bad things aren't going to stop us from continuing to do great things"

No one was hurt in any of the robberies. Police are still investigating.

Glendale Crime and Public Safety