BOCA RATON, Fla. — Detectives with the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office are sharing surveillance video they say shows a thief who has been targeting businesses in Boca Raton.
In a Facebook post, deputies shared surveillance video from inside Stallone’s Italian Kitchen, that shows a man using a knife to try to break into what appears to be a cash box. The man in the video can be seen walking through the kitchen with what appears to be a cash drawer and using a knife and spatula to try to force it open.
The owner of the restaurant told WPBF the thief only got a few dollars in coins, but caused hundreds of dollars in damage. “It’s definitely frustrating,” the restaurant owner’s son, Robert Angelo Stallone, told WPBF. “I hope we catch him. I hope we find out who he is. I hope it doesn’t happen to any other business owners, too.”
Palm Beach County detectives said there have been 12 cases of theft on six separate dates, and in each case the suspect broke into the business through the front door using something heavy like a crowbar and then targeted the cash registers.
Pho Boca was similarly targeted. The restaurant’s head server told WPBF, “We fell on hard times. We’re struggling just to make up for all of our lost money and everything. And then for this to happen, it just kind of sets us back.”