Burglars smashed windows, pried open doors, and plundered cash registers early Thursday in a pre-dawn blitz that hit 11 shops across Simi Valley, according to police and shopkeepers.
First burglary call came in at 3:19 a.m., followed just four minutes later by another several miles away, leading police to believe that more than one crew was involved. What's not clear is whether the burglary crews were working in together.
"Certainly likely and possible," said Simi Valley Police Commander Roy Jones.
In at least one case, thieves grabbed the entire cash register and took it with them.
The burglars avoided large chain stores and targeted smaller, mom and pop type shops, in many cases without alarms or security cameras.
"Expensive!" lamented Abraham Bawab, owner of the New York Pizza Factory on Los Angeles Avenue for three years, never previously robbed or burglarized until Thursday morning. "I'm definitely going to look into a security system."
His cash register was empty, but the thieves did not know that before they broke in.
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Police advised shopkeepers not to leave cash in their money boxes and to leave the tills open and visible so burglars can see there's no reason to break in.
Earlier this summer, Simi was hit with a wave of similar commercial break-ins, but back then, victimizing ten shops then took several weeks.
If it's the same thieves, they've gotten faster.
