Thieves use torch to bust into local restaurant safes

CINCINNATI (WKRC) - A group of thieves has been breaking into Cincinnati-area restaurants since last April. They have hit 25 so far.

Police are hoping you could be the one who helps them find and arrest the three men. Cpt. Paul Broxterman, the Cincinnati Police District 3 commander, said the group will wait for a restaurant to close and then make their move.

"They pick restaurants with drive-thru windows. What they do is they break out the drive-thru window, two, three male blacks, and one of the male blacks has a torch with them and they cut into the safe," Broxterman said.

Most of the restaurants targeted have been on the west side of Cincinnati. The thieves hit the McDonald's on Warsaw Avenue. The Rally's on Glenway Avenue has been hit five times. The trio got into a Burger King but could not get into the safe, and they failed to get into the Frisch's on Glenway Avenue.

There have been a few restaurants targeted outside the city and even one suspected to be by the same group in northern Kentucky.

"With serial thieves like this, their greed will lead ultimately to their undoing," Broxterman said. "They have to be lucky every time. All we have to be is lucky once.”

They break in and scout the inside but then get out and watch to see if any police show up. Then after a while, they go back in and get to work. They use an acetylene torch to get into the restaurant safes.

"You could tell that they do have some experience working with a torch. That's not something a layman could do, and they are wearing heavy gloves. So, they leave behind little evidence, but we have gotten some," said Broxterman.

Police are trying every angle they can to find out who's behind the masks.

"We've reached out to the vocational schools. We've talked to various tool rental places around the area," said Broxterman.

Investigators have been warning local businesses about the group.

"We realize it's hard to tell them not to keep a large amount of money in their safes, but we do want to make them aware of these offenses," Broxterman said.

Broxterman would not say if they thought the group was local, but it does seem likely.

"It would lead us to believe they are comfortable with the area because they don't branch out too often, and we have some leads on that as well," he said.

If you have any information on the break-ins, call Crimestoppers at 513-352-3040.