ALBANY PARK — The homeowners of a family-run cafe in Albany Park burglarized early Wednesday mentioned they’re grateful for the help of two of its common clients who launched a fundraiser to assist them.
Round 3:10 a.m. Wednesday, a gaggle of individuals carrying darkish clothes, masks and gloves broke into Harding Cafe, 4347 N. Harding Ave., police and proprietor Jose Ruiz mentioned.
“Once we got here within the morning to open the enterprise we noticed the glass of the entrance door damaged and a few of our gear and different issues thrown on the driveway simply outdoors,” Ruiz instructed Block Membership in Spanish.
Ruiz known as police and waited for officers to reach earlier than he and his household entered the cafe. As soon as inside, Ruiz noticed elements of his money register had been lacking. No cash was stored within the register, however he was unable to take orders till he repaired the broken system, he mentioned.
Safety footage confirmed the burglars fled in an Infiniti or Audi sedan, however it wasn’t clear what shade the car was, Ruiz and police mentioned.
Nobody is in custody, and detectives are investigating, police mentioned.
“I feel they stole the automotive they left in, as a result of they left some golf golf equipment behind,” Ruiz mentioned.
After reviewing the cafe’s safety footage and evaluating it to Block Membership’s earlier reporting on burglaries within the space, the group who broke in Wednesday seems to be just like a crew behind housebreaking sprees final September in Albany Park and Irving Park, Ruiz mentioned.
Ruiz mentioned he known as his insurance coverage firm and restore males straight away to deal with the harm and get again to serving clients.
By Thursday morning, the damaged window was changed, the purpose of service system was again on-line and Ruiz was within the kitchen cooking once more whereas clients positioned orders along with his members of the family working the entrance.
Ruiz was pleasantly stunned when he discovered of a fundraiser Thursday morning created by Curtis Bumgarner and Andrew Cookson — the homeowners of close by Scent Queens and It’s Lit Studio Yoga + Health — to assist his cafe get better from the break-in, he mentioned.
“They’re two regulars of ours. When one thing like this occurs, you don’t know who might help you. It makes me really feel good that they needed to assist,” Ruiz mentioned.
As of Thursday afternoon, the GoFundMe marketing campaign was simply $400 shy of its $4,500 objective.
“We’re simply doing our half as group leaders to assist out mates and one other small enterprise in a time of want, simply doing what we felt was proper,” Bumgarner and Cookson mentioned in an e-mail to Block Membership.
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