Thieves steal meat, electronics from Wellington West restaurants
Thieves who ransacked restaurants in Wellington West and made off with thousands of dollars worth of food and electronics are still at large, Ottawa police say.
The most recent theft happened in late November at Petit Bill's Bistro, where a suspect made off with $600 to $1,000 worth of the restaurant's locally sourced meat.
Co-owner Terry Fitzpatrick said the thief forced his way into an electrical room, then bored through drywall to get to the restaurant's food storage area.
Fitzpatrick said the thief stole some valuable items, but left others.
"You know the guy's got something wrong with him when there's cases of beer, there's wine in there, and he took a case of chocolate milk," Fitzpatrick said. "He left bags and bags of scallops which are worth hundreds of dollars."
Fitzpatrick believes the thief may try to resell the stolen food to other restaurants to make a quick buck.
2 break-ins at Soca Kitchen
Soca Kitchen on Holland Avenue suffered a bigger hit in August when the restaurant was broken into two nights in a row and thieves left $13,000 in damage.
On the first night, a man broke in and stole liquor and electronics, including iPads and speakers. He also damaged the restaurant's fridges and freezers, forcing the restaurant to throw out food.
"One day we walked in and everything was a disaster because on top of stealing most of the stuff, they trashed the place," said Daniela Manrique, the restaurant's chef and owner.
The next night, someone broke through a window and stole most of the liquor that was left. Both break-ins were caught on the restaurant's security camera.
The security footage showed the suspect in the first robbery opening a pop can.
"He drank some of it and then he smashed it on the wall. We kept the can of Coke and the police took his DNA," Manrique said.
Ottawa police said they're investigating the break-ins at both restaurants, and are treating the thefts as separate incidents.
