The Fresno Police Department is actively investigating a burglary at JK Liquor in northeast Fresno and is urging anyone with information to contact the department. The thefts have left businesses in the area frustrated.
At JK Liquor, it was business as usual inside the family-owned store, but the front door remained boarded up after burglars broke in early Wednesday morning. Manager Jaskaran Mann said the store relies on the business to survive.
"We're a small family, running a small business; this is how we survive," Mann said.
Security footage shows a man dressed in black attempting to pry open the front door with a crowbar while a second man appears to keep watch. When that failed, the suspects used a white GMC to break down the door.
Mann says the break-in happened quickly.
The suspects entered the store and took the cash register along with other merchandise.
"They took quite a few bottles, they took a cash register, they took some invoices. I don't know what they're going to do with it, though," Mann said.
The stolen items were loaded into the vehicle before the suspects left the scene. Mann said this isn't the first time this has happened. Adding the store was burglarized right before the COVID-19 pandemic.
Less than a mile away, Spirit Made Cakes on Willow Avenue in Clovis was also burglarized early Monday morning.
Owner Vartine Garabet said safety is her main concern following the break-in.
"I'm not worried about the money. I'm worried about my employees; they're not safe. I have bakers that come in at 5 a.m. The person who broke in, it was at 4:30 a.m.," Garabet said.
Surveillance video shows a suspect entering the bakery with a crowbar, making his way through the kitchen toward the front register, where he stole cash and a tip jar. Garabet said this is the second time the business has been hit.
"The way that we watched the video, he was so comfortable. It was so surprising for us with how comfortable you are, robbing someone's place," she said.
Clovis Police said they have been investigating four commercial burglaries in the Willow and Nees area since December of last year.
Business owners say the repeated thefts are taking a toll.
"We would really like to have our business survive at the end of the day," Garabet said.
Both businesses said they plan to speak with their landlords about improving security and safety measures.
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