Businesses across Albuquerque are being targeted by burglars.
Duke City Beaches, a winery and restaurant in the city, was recently broken into and vandalized, according to KRQE. Thieves ransacked the place.
“They smashed our back window and came in and had a bunch of time inside of there and got our cash register,” Troy White, owner of the establishment, told KRQE. “[They] actually got down into our basement and got our safe.”
White said he never thought his business would be burglarized, especially early in the morning. The thief broke a window in the back door to get in, KRQE reported.
“He went into our basement, which only has one exit, and he was down there for 15 minutes or so,” he said. “It’s kind of crazy to think somebody could be that brave to go down there and know they didn’t have an exit. They didn’t have anything and there’s not really any consequences.”
White estimated that the business lost thousands of dollars in cash and equipment, according to KRQE. The alarm system was not operating that day, but a surveillance camera inside the restaurant captured a photo of the suspect. White shared the photo to the business’ Instagram page; many local business owners said they had recently been targeted as well.
Duke City Beaches offers sand sports like beach volleyball and soccer for its guests, KRQE reported. The business hosted the Spike For Survivors Sand Volleyball Tournament in July. Funds raised went to Albuquerque firefighters.
“It’s hard to be helping everybody out and then stuff like this happens,” White said.
Police are investigating the incident.