Smash, grab burglaries rock 5 restaurants in Clay County

Burglaries occurred along Blanding Boulevard between Orange Park and Middleburg

CLAY COUNTY, Fla. – Local businesses in Clay County are on the lookout Monday night after crooks targeting restaurants for cash have burglarized several area restaurants.

Five restaurants were hit in the past few weeks with smash and grab burglaries where the suspect smashes in the front door, goes inside, takes money and drives off.

Between May 18 and May 26 five restaurants were hit in the past few weeks with smash and grab burglaries where the suspect smashes in the front door, goes inside, steals the cash register or cash drawer and drives off.

According to deputies the five restaurants include:
• China Café on Branan Field Road
• China Wok on Blanding Boulevard
• Yume Fusion on Blanding Boulevard
• Hot Wok on Loch Rane Boulevard
• Nicole's Café on Blanding Boulevard


Hot Wok in Orange Park is just one of the places that's been hit and the Jacksonville's Sheriff's Office does have some evidence on video and hopes that someone might recognize who's behind the burglaries.

Video: Surveillance video of smash and grab burglary at Hot Wok

The burglaries all occurred along the Blanding Boulevard corridor from Orange Park to Middleburg and most serve Asian cuisine, like they do at Yume Fusion in Middleburg where they just spent hundreds of dollars to replace the glass on their front door.

"It was like eight days ago people like hit it and broke it. This is new glass and then normally we have tint on the window but because we haven't had people to do tint yet, this window was like $600," Lina Jing, owner of Yume Fusion, said. "I think people need to, if they want money they need to go work. We work hard for money too."

Jing said that she opened three months ago with her husband and was frustrated when she got the call in the middle of the night that someone had broken in.

"Of course, 3 a.m. in the morning, early time. Somebody call you, wake you up just like, totally like ahhh," Jing said.

Police said that after a man smashes in the front window and steals the money, he eventually gets away in what's believed to be a Chevy Tahoe made some time between 2000 and 2006.

Anyone with information about who's responsible is asked to call the Clay County Sheriff's Office at 904-264-6512.
 


About the Author:

Scott is a multi-Emmy Award Winning Anchor and Reporter, who also hosts the “Going Ringside With The Local Station” Podcast. Scott has been a journalist for 25 years, covering stories including six presidential elections, multiple space shuttle launches and dozens of high-profile murder trials.