Rash of business break-ins continues

Mike Johnson’s ringing telephone woke him up late Wednesday night.

It was his alarm company calling to tell him his coffee shop, the Red Bicycle at 2805 Homestead Road, had just been broken into.

“I thought it was a false alarm,” said Johnson, owner of the store since May of last year.

Stories like Johnson’s are part of a growing trend of small business break-ins in the Chapel Hill area, said Lt. Kevin Gunter of the Chapel Hill police.

Since Nov. 18, he said there have been 19 break-ins that police officials said they think are related.

“It is unusual,” Gunter said. “All of them have very similar M.O.s. The front doors have been shattered or broken or damaged.”

He said the suspects appear to be looking for cash only. The majority of cost to the businesses has come from broken doors or windows.

Gunter said police think a recurring group or individual is committing the break-ins, and although perpetrators have been caught on camera, police have made no arrests.

Johnson, who has a camera installed, said the man on tape didn’t steal anything from his store because no cash was left overnight in the register.

“We watched him on the camera,” he said. “He was very casually walking around like he was looking for loose change.”

Johnson said the suspect did more than $1,000 in damage when he smashed the front door’s glass.

“He just took a day’s sales,” he said. “It’s probably two or three days worth of profit.”

The Red Bicycle is located in The Station at Homestead, a small complex at the intersection of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Homestead Road.

Michael Klinger, manager of Chapel Hill Wine Company which is also located in the complex, said he was shocked when he heard the news at an informal meeting with other business owners Thursday.

“I never imagined anyone breaking into a coffee shop, a small business,” he said.

Klinger said although his store already has an alarm company, management plans to install new locks to increase security efforts.

Gunter said police are working with Chatham County, Durham and Carrboro investigators as well as increasing patrols in specific areas to crack down on the break-ins.

Small businesses can take preventative measures like exterior and interior lighting to ward off potential thieves, Gunter said.

He also said business owners should install cameras and take all cash when they close shop.

“Don’t leave anything in the cash drawers,” Gunter said. “Don’t leave anything lying around because it appears to be what they’re after.”

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