Burglars make off with safes and cash registers after breaking into two SLO eateries

San Luis Obispo police say a ring of safe-crackers is on the loose after three men hit two local restaurants early Friday morning.

Starting around 3 a.m., the men broke into G. Brothers Smokehouse on Foothill Boulevard and then Lincoln Market and Deli at the corner of Lincoln and Broad streets to steal the businesses’ safes, according to Sgt. Chad Pfarr of the San Luis Obispo Police Department.

The men either accidentally dropped or intentionally left the safe from G. Brothers — which wasn’t in use and contained no cash or valuables — in the street outside Lincoln Market.

Lincoln Market owners Mike and Becky Hicks told The Tribune the burglars broke into the shop through the back door and ripped their safe out of the wall.

“This thing was bolted into the concrete,” Mike said. “I guess where there’s a will, there’s a way.”

The Hickses’ security cameras caught the burglary on video, which the couple plans to turn over to police. It shows three men with flashlights moving around the office for about two minutes before leaving with the safe.

Pfarr and the Hickses said the crew seemed well-organized and moved quickly during the thefts.

“The look I got is that they knew what they were doing,” Mike said.

Becky Hicks said the loss of security was more jarring than the actual property theft.

“It was more the experience that was the shaking part of it,” she said.

Pfarr said the G. Brothers burglary was also recorded by multiple security cameras.

Manager Leo Garcia said in a phone interview that the burglars, who broke in through a back exit door, also stole two cash registers, one filled with money for the day’s business. The burglars tried to break into another safe, in addition to the one they stole, but could only pry the door partially open, Garcia said.

“We have to fix all the damage they did,” he said.

This story was originally published November 11, 2016 at 11:26 AM with the headline "Burglars make off with safes and cash registers after breaking into two SLO eateries."