North Manhattan Beach Restaurants Experience Break-Ins
Mar 29, 2023 10:03AM ● By Jeanne Fratello
A view of North Manhattan Beach from Fishbar in El Porto, looking south on Highland Ave. Fishbar was one of the restaurants targeted by burglars in the early morning hours of March 25.
Two North Manhattan Beach restaurants were broken into in the early morning hours on Saturday, March 25 before the criminals appeared to move northward to El Segundo.
Both Sloopy's Beach Café and Fishbar were broken into at around 2:00 a.m. on Saturday morning. While an alarm startled the burglars at Sloopy's and they did not get away with anything, they did manage to leave with valuables from Fishbar.
The break-ins are presumed to be related to a series of six commercial
burglaries in El Segundo that occurred at around 3:00 a.m. on Saturday
morning. According to the El Segundo Police Department, the suspects
targeted six businesses overnight in downtown El Segundo, forcing entry into each location, going after cash registers
and valuables.
Regarding the Manhattan Beach burglaries, MB News received the following statement from the Manhattan Beach Police Department:
"On
March 24, 2023 between the hours 11:00PM and 5:00AM, 2 burglaries of
local restaurants in the 3400 and 3800 block of Highland Ave occurred. Our investigation
revealed the restaurants were burglarized by suspect(s) who broke glass
doors to gain entry. Suspect(s) stole cash, payroll checks and tax
documents from one business. There was no loss in the second business.
Our investigation also revealed our burglaries
may be related to the burglaries that occurred in the City of El
Segundo around the same time. The Manhattan Beach Police Department and
the El Segundo Police Department are working together to investigate
these crimes."
Furthermore, according to MBPD, detectives are still working to see if these burglaries are connected to another burglary that occurred at a business on Sepulveda Blvd. in Manhattan Beach on the same night. In all of the Manhattan Beach cases, at least, the method of entry was the same - by breaking glass.
Anyone with information about the burglaries is asked to call MBPD Detective Seth Hartnell with any information you have that may help our investigation at 310-802-5127
Alarm Startled Burglars at Sloopy's
Peter Kim, the owner of Sloopy's in North Manhattan Beach, told MB News that the burglars broke a window at 1:56 a.m. on March 25 at Sloopy's, but appear to have been spooked by an alarm going off.
Kim said that he, as well as a neighbor, have video footage showing two suspects - who then presumably went on to target other businesses.
"They started with me at two in the morning, then Fishbar, then on to El Segundo by 3:00. They just went 'boom boom boom,'" said Kim.
Kim added that this was the first time that Sloopy's had been burglarized in about 18 years. In that last incident, he added, the burglars tried to get the cash register but were again spooked by the alarm.
Kim said he is seeking extra patrols in the neighborhood - and a louder alarm. He is urging fellow business owners to get alarms as well.
"[The incident] just makes you more cognizant of everything that’s going on, especially with summer coming up," he said.
Jessica Jordan, owner of Fishbar, told MB News that the burglars hit her restaurant at 2:17 a.m. by breaking glass to get in. They managed to take off with items of value.
"It’s unfortunate," she said. "We’ve lived in a little bubble, growing up here, but...it is what it is."
