Burglar Uses Pickaxe to Break into Condesa Coffee

Burglar took an undisclosed amount of cash.

OLD FOURTH WARD — Atlanta police are looking for a man who burglarized the Condesa Coffee shop sometime Wednesday night into Thursday morning — using a pickaxe. The man, who was caught on video took an undisclosed amount of cash from the popular coffee and wine shop located at the corner of Boulevard and Freedom Parkway. "I noticed a big chunk of drywall was laying on the ground, " Matthew Davis, Condesa's general manager, told East Atlanta Patch. When he went to the other side of the wall, that's when he saw the pickaxe and called police. The man who is black, is clean-shaven, with a thin build and what appears to be a receding hairline. (The coffee shop posted the video on its Facebook page.) The incident is just the latest in a number …

• Videos (1)

Grease Monkeys Victim of Smash-and-Grab

Police looking for two men and Dodge Durango.

EAST ATLANTA VILLAGE — Atlanta police are looking for two men and a Dodge Durango in connection with an early morning Jan. 9 smash-and-grab at Grease Monkeys. The thieves — two men — smashed the plate glass in the doorway with a piece of cinder block to gain access in the break-in, which occurred at 4:12 a.m. Grease Monkeys, which opened about a year ago just off the southwest corner of Flat Shoals and Glenwood avenues, lost about $1,000 in merchandise, Joe Grondalski, who is a co-owner of the clothing store. The thieves stole several racks of button-down shirts branded Rock Steady Nation and a tee shirt line, SAF, which is manufactured by a Griffin-based companym Grondalski said. They managed to break-in without tripping the alarm. But …

•  2 Comments
• Photos (1)
• Videos (1)

Péralte Paul

11:04 am on Saturday, January 12, 2013

Most systems trip if someone breaks a door, and separate the sensors or the like. Some systems are wired in a way to trip because the glass itself is broken. The doors in both the Grease Monkeys and Mercantile cases weren't wired that way.   more ›

Burglaries at the Mercantile and San Francisco Coffee in Candler Park

Armed robbers broke in by throwing a rock through door window.

CANDLER PARK — Atlanta police are looking two armed burglars who broke inrto the Mercantile at 1660 DeKalb Ave. and the San Francisco Coffee outlet next door early Sunday morning. The burglars broke in by throwing a rock through a glass platewindow, said Janea Boyles, a co-owner of the Mercantile. "The burglars got in without tripping the alarm," Boyles told East Atlanta Patch. "They went directly for the cash registers." The registers were empty but they managed to break one open in the burglary, which occured at 4:52 a.m. It was the first such incident at the specialty foods eatery in its 4½ years of operation, Boyles said. It took them less than a minute to be in and out. One of them had a gun, which could be seen in suveillance video …

• Photos (4)

Preventing Door Kick-Ins

Bad guys gain access by kicking in the door to your home because less than one inch of soft wood in the doorjamb holds the deadbolt.

Intown Healthy Hound Fundraiser at Hodgepodge

Friends look to help Grant Park business following burglary.

Friends and customers of Intown Healthy Hound owners James and Bridget Galloway are hosting benefit fundraiser Dec. 13 following the Nov. 28 burglary in which thieves stole $35,000 in dog food from the couple's storage warehouse. The event, Rebound the Hound Benefit for Intown Healthy Hound, is scheduled for 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. at Hodgepodge Coffee House, 720 Moreland Ave. SE in East Atlanta. It will be free and there will be free food and live music, but folks are asked to make a financial contribution of $20 each toward the fundraising efforts to defray the loss, which won't be covered by insurance. Such a serious financial hit threatens to close the business. It's one reason why Krystle McNeill Rodriguez, one of Hodgepodge's owners, was …

• Photos (1)

Thieves Break Into East Atlanta Home; Steal, Then Drop Television

Thieves broke into a Stokeswood Avenue home but were chased by neighbors and escaped emty-handed.

Atlanta and DeKalb County police are looking for at at least four men who broke into a Stokeswood Avenue home in East Atlanta Dec. 11 and stole a television before dropping it after neighbors who heard the commotion gave chase. Police responded to an alarm call in the 700 block of Stokeswood Avenue at about 1:15 p.m., Atlanta police Sgt. Gregory Lyon told East Atlanta Patch. Witnesses reported hearing popping noises — police said there was no evidence of gunfire and that the noise likely was the thieves breaking the door in to the home — and saw two men running down the street toward Oakfield Drive toward a waiting car. The noise from the break-in and subsequent alarm drew the attention of neighbors who called the police. A couple of them …

• Photos (1)

Hodgepodge Coffeehouse Burglarized

Cash and safe stolen from East Atlanta coffee shop in overnight break-in.

Atlanta police say someone broke into the Hodgepodge Coffeehouse and Gallery in the early morning hours of Dec. 3. and stole an undetermined amount of cash, as well as a small safe. The burglar apparently tripped an alarm when he or she broke out a window around 12 a.m. The alarm company then called police, Atlanta police spokesman Sgt. Gregory Lyon told East Atlanta Patch.

•  3 Comments
• Photos (1)

Police Need Public's Help to Identify Advance Auto Parts Burglary Suspect

Surveillance images show suspect wanted in connection with Aug. 14 break-in.

by Patch Staff Atlanta police have released a series of photographs taken from sureveillance cameras of the Advance Auto Parts store at 1395 Moreland Ave., with the hope that someone might know who was behind the Aug. 14 break-in of the automotive retailer. Police say the man in the images broke through the front door of the store at 4:50 a.m., which is located in the Custer/McDononough/Guice neighborhood, and entered the establishment. Investigators found a shopping cart loaded with items taken from the store in the parking lot. Nothing else appeared to be missing. Anyone with information is urged to Crime Stoppers Atlanta at 404.577.TIPS (8477) or APD Zone 6 Investigations at 404.373.5331.

• Photos (5)

Updated: Police Called to Flat Shoals Avenue for AM Burglary

Man dropped laptop after neighbor gave chase.

Atlanta police were called to the 600 block of Flat Shoals Avenue SE in East Atlanta at 4:22 a.m. Wednesday to respond to a possible burglary in progress. A resident reported seeing a man carrying a laptop and gave chase. The man suspected burglar dropped it as he ran. The suspect, who is described as black, with a dark complextion, tall, thin and wearing dreadlocks in a ponytail, was last seen running toward Van Epps Avenue SE.

•  1 Comment
• Photos (1)

Ormewood Park On Alert Following Daytime Burglary

In the Berne Street break-in, a television was stolen.

Atlanta police are looking for two men behind the brazen, mid-morning robbery of a Berne Street home June 19. Later in the evening on the same day, police returned to the Berne Street area following another report of an attempted break-in. In the first incident, the home, located in Berne's 900 block, off Glenwood Place, was the target of an attempted burglary last year. A neighbor was alerted to possible trouble when her dog began barking excitedly. The neighbor told East Atlanta Patch she saw the two men leaving from the victim's back porch with a television in the 10 a.m. break-in. The victim was not home at the time but she was at home during last year's unsuccessful break-in attempt. The two men — both black in their 20s to 30s — ran …

• Photos (1)