Betty Burgers burglarized at Seabright location
SANTA CRUZ, Calif. (KION-TV) - Betty Burgers in Santa Cruz is navigating the aftermath of a break-in at their Seabright location.
This theft occurred just days after the company announced the closure of its downtown location.
The initial reaction was a bit of shock and disbelief
Betty Burgers General Manager Ivan Diaz got a call about a break-in at his Seabright location early Tuesday morning after spending Monday clearing out the newly closed downtown restaurant.
"The individual broke the window to enter into the building, ransacked the office, just broke the glass computers, laptop. Just tore the office apart," Diaz said.
The only things stolen: a laptop, a Betty Burgers-branded hoodie, and a few hundred dollars in cash, yet the real cost is from vandalism.
Diaz said his insurance is quoting the damages at over $50,000. The burglar sprayed a fire extinguisher inside.
“All of our food items. All of our dry goods, cups, napkins, spoons, and forks. Every single thing that could have possibly been contaminated, we threw out because the chemicals inside of the fire extinguisher are very toxic," Diaz said.
The folks here at Betty Burgers believe the intruder scaled up a pole, climbed onto the overhang, then up and onto the roof before breaking the glass and entering through the second story.
The location manager pointed out a dent in the gutter, perhaps a sign of the burglar’s route to the upstairs office.
Diaz said he originally wondered if the break-in could be connected to a disgruntled former employee.
Last week, he and owner laurie negro had decided to close the Downtown location, laying off more than a dozen employees.
But after reviewing the footage and talking to police, the new belief is that the perpetrator was a nearby homeless person.
“Maybe he or she came in the store, they didn’t, you know, like it, they ran them off and they came back later that night or the next night and retaliated. That makes sense to me," Betty's Burgers customer Chip Peto said.
Betty's Burgers on Seabright and Murray had already been struggling with slower business connected to the Murray Street Bridge closure.
"We've already cut 100 staff hours per month. We do not want to lay off anyone, but like other businesses have done in the area, there might be a time where we have to start closing down one or two days a week," Diaz said.
Plenty of businesses in the area share that struggle, and Peto said he’s going out of his way to support Betty Burgers and others right now.
“I’m trying to lose a little weight, not buy bigger clothes, so I’m trying to cut down on eating, but I came down here just to patronize the store, and I’ll try to do that in the future," Peto said.
One silver lining to the downtown closing is that they had equipment to bring over and replace at this Seabright location, helping them reopen just a day after the vandalism.
