Nicole Burns
At approximately 4:28 a.m. on the morning of March 1st, police responded to a burglary call at the Diner of Sugar Hill located at 4500 Nelson Brogdon Boulevard in Sugar Hill, Ga.
The restaurant owner, Masoud Emami told officers that when he arrived at the diner that he noticed that the side emergency door was open. Upon inspection of the door, Emami noticed pry marks on the door. Emami began walking around his restaurant looking for any damage or items missing. He noticed that the cash register from the bar had been removed. The cabinet where extra bottles of alcohol were kept had been broken open. The owner then discovered that his back door had been propped open with the lock bar. The door had visible pry marks on it as well but the thief had been unsuccessful in gaining entry through that door because of the lock bar.
Police were shown surveillance video that Emami had that showed where a Chrysler Town and Country minivan pulls up behind the business at 4:28 a.m. on March 1st. A white male wearing a ball cap exits the vehicle and then grabs a crowbar from under the driver’s seat. The van also has a ratchet strap coming from the rear passenger tire well up the side of the vehicle and tied to the roof rack. The male walks around to the front of the minivan where he removes his ball cap and puts on a ski mask over his face. He then goes to the rear door out of sight of the camera but is seen returning to the vehicle two additional times for different prybars and the ratchet strap.
At 4:33 a.m., the camera shows the suspect driving away from the rear of the building. Almost a minute later, the male gains entry into the diner through a side door. He is seen running through the restaurant, through the server prep area on to the bar area. A few minutes later the suspect emerges from the rear entry door and runs to the side of the building where the emergency exit is.
The owner told police officers that the suspect stole the entire cash drawer from the bar area which contained $150.00 in cash. The cash drawer and till were valued at $450.00.
The Chrysler Town and Country minivan was also seen at another burglary at the Chevron located at 1155 Buford Highway in Sugar Hill on March 1st. The suspect pried the doors open to gain access to the store where they stole $700.00 in cash.
