Portland police are investigating more than a dozen business burglaries reported in the last 10 weeks.
Lt. Robert Martin shared a list Friday of the 15 businesses that had been burglarized. He said police are encouraging business owners to lock their doors and windows, and officers are increasing their patrols throughout the city.
“While there are similarities in the crimes, it is too early to determine if they are being perpetrated by the same individual(s),” Martin wrote in a news release.
The burglaries were reported all over the city and in different types of businesses. The earliest one identified by police was at China Taste at 1223 Washington Ave. on Aug. 23, and the most recent was at Elsmere BBQ at 476 Stevens Ave. on Wednesday. A number of the targets were car repair businesses or tire shops, including two locations of Paulin’s Tire.
The release did not include more details about any patterns between the burglaries, but one of the owners of Elsmere BBQ described the incident at the Stevens Avenue location to the Portland Press Herald.
Adam Powers said the burglar climbed onto the building’s roof and cut the internet connection so the restaurant’s security cameras couldn’t record the break-in. An employee reported the crime Wednesday morning after finding the restaurant’s safe in the kitchen, rather than its place in an upstairs office. Someone had pried it open and emptied it of cash, Powers said.
“This wasn’t just a drunk kid, this was somebody who thought about it,” Powers said.
Police asked anyone with information about the crimes to call (207) 874-8575. Anonymous information can also be submitted on the Portland Police Department’s tip line at (207) 874-8584, on the department website or by texting the keyword “GOTCHA” and the tip to 274637 (CRIMES).
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