Thieves in Orange County hit seven different businesses early Saturday with surveillance footage capturing two suspects in one of the locations.
Hooded burglars can be seen on camera breaking into Mountain Mike’s Pizza in Rancho Santa Margarita. After smashing the glass door with a crowbar, the thieves ran straight to the back office where they tried to use power tools to get into the owner’s safe.
“People came in, broke our windows, you know, ran into the store, tried to steal our safe from the back, find whatever money they could and really just rampaged my office,” Daniel Gorman, the owner of the pizza shop, told KTLA.
Fortunately, the safe was bolted to the ground and the thieves did not get any money, but that did not stop their crime spree. The burglars moved next door, shattering the windows at New Lake Asian House and La Fiesta Mexican Grill.
“I just know that someone broke the windows,” Angelica Cruz, with La Fiesta Mexican Grill, said. “The city is really quiet. You, like, never hear people coming and doing bad things in the area, no.”
Unfortunately, the crooks made off with cash from both of those locations. They then targeted four other restaurants in a different shopping center. Officials with the Orange County Sheriff’s Department said a total of seven businesses were burglarized around 4 a.m.
“In and out, like just two minutes max in each location as they came in,” Gorman said. “You know, they were only in our shopping center for about a 10-minute period before they just came in, hit one store, ran in, ran out, hit the next store, ran in and ran out – hit us, and then they were on their way out.”
The business owners are speaking out about the break-ins, hoping to stop more burglaries before someone gets hurt.
Cameras captured two hooded suspects breaking into an Orange County restaurant on Mar. 11, 2023 
Cameras captured two hooded suspects breaking into an Orange County restaurant Mar. 11, 2023. 
Cameras captured two hooded suspects breaking into an Orange County restaurant Mar. 11, 2023 
The front window of New Lake Asian House boarded up after thieves broke into the restaurant on Mar. 11, 2023. 
Window seen broken at La Fiesta Mexican Grill after thieves broke in on Mar. 11, 2023.
Cruz said she was just glad that no one was in the restaurant when the break-in happened.
As for Gorman, he doesn’t think the two burglary suspects were beginners.
“I mean, they definitely have experience in doing something, to some extent, because they had the right tools. They had a whole bag ready to go,” he said. “They were dressed full head to toe, couldn’t see much of their faces inside the videos that we had on our surveillance cameras.”
Anyone with information about the burglaries is encouraged to contact authorities in Orange County.
