VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) — Virginia Beach businesses are banding together after a series of burglaries and a robbery.
A local car dealership, gas station and restaurant have all fallen victim.
Police have not connected them, but there’s a possibility they’re related. The most recent incident was a robbery and happened two days ago at Crazy Shirley’s Bar and Grill. An employee was injured after being pistol-whipped. A 7-Eleven was also hit.
Not even two weeks before that, a car dealership was ransacked.
Surveillance video captured during the break-in shows two masked men on foot shattering the office door to Oceana Motors and running through the business looking for something to steal.
“The alarm started beeping, I called 911, came here and they were already gone,” said Gilbert Baz, manager of Oceana Motors.
This time, Baz says they made off with an old cell phone. The first time, three months ago, the thieves drove two cars off of the auto shop’s lot.
“We came in the morning. We see all the keys everywhere in the lot and we see the break in the window. We checked the cars and there were two cars missing,” Baz stated.
A Chevy Cruze and Nissan Altima were missing from the lot. Baz said one car was recovered by police in Norfolk. Its engine was destroyed. The second car hasn’t been found.
“I’m glad they didn’t take the expensive one,” Baz said.
Baz just wants the thieves caught.
“It’s frustrating you know? The police were here. They worked and took fingerprints and some blood when they broke in, but we don’t know yet,” Baz said.
Baz has also been in touch with other businesses that were targeted like Crazy Shirley’s Bar and Grill. The staff said they’re traumatized after three men with guns barged in this past Tuesday in the middle of the day, leaving with a woman’s wallet and a drawer full of cash. They declined an interview.
The break-ins are still under investigation.