A robber entered a Korean restaurant on Wilshire Street in Koreatown around 5 a.m. on February 5 and robbed a cash register that contained a total of $3,000 in cash.
According to the restaurant’s owner, the alarm on his store’s front door went off at 5:30 a.m. He immediately checked the security cameras, but the cash register was already missing.
In-house CCTV footage showed the robber spending 15 minutes smashing the key box outside the restaurant before casually walking in with the key in hand. The robber went straight to the cash register, tried to open the cash drawer with a sharp tool, and when that didn’t work, he ripped it open and fled.
The owner mentioned that the robber seemed familiar with the business’s internal structure, indicating that the perpetrator had a good understanding of it before committing the crime.
“There were many malfunctions in the first place, so we used to check the alarm by ourselves and call the police, but it seems like the robber knew that too,” the owner said, adding, “I’m glad that no one was hurt, and I wonder if emptying the cash drawer and leaving the door open would be a way to prevent vandalism.”
“I don’t think I will lock the door at night anymore.”
The store said it would not file a police report, saying it would only cause more hassle.
BY BRIAN CHOI, JUNHAN PARK [ichoi@koreadaily.com]
