OAKLAND — For weeks a small group of burglars have roamed around the East Bay smashing into restaurants and stealing safes, authorities say.
They’ve consistently targeted fast food joints. But police say that most of the burglaries singled out two chains in particular: Taco Bell and Wendy’s. The group has occasionally broken from this pattern to target a Popeye’s Chicken, a Chipotle, and a Burger King, authorities said.
But in Pittsburg, San Pablo, Pacheco, and several locations around Oakland, both Wendy’s and Taco Bells have been hit by the same group of burglars, who have taken as much as $20,000 at a time from restaurant safes, authorities said.
Unfortunately for the group, they also unwittingly let police in on their scheme. In a recent spree, they committed several burglaries while using a car that investigators had been tracking, authorities said.
In late March, police arrested a 29-year-old Antioch man and a 30-year-old Oakland man on suspicion of participating in the burglary spree, but they have since been released without charges. Police believe one of the men was renting hotel rooms around Oakland and using multiple vehicles while joining with at least two others to target fast food restaurants around the Bay Area.
The group has been active since at least last January, when a Wendy’s in Pittsburg was hit. In early February, they allegedly stole $10,000 from the safe of a Wendy’s in Pacheco one morning, then burglarized a Wendy’s in Oakland that night, stealing $20,000 from an office safe, authorities said.
The investigation remains active and police are expected to soon bring a case to the Alameda County District Attorney’s office, authorities said.