A devastated head chef has revealed that a trio of thieves broke into their restaurant twice in the space of two hours and made off with £8,000.
Piersalvo Trovato, who is the head chef and co-owner of the eatery, revealed that the two thefts took place at around 04:30am and 06:30am on Saturday 14. Shockingly, he believes that those responsible must have had knowledge of the restaurant as they were able to target the safe and make off with it quickly.
At first two males tried to gain entry by smashing the glass on the front door. One stood and watched for any passersby and another entered Toro Latino Steakhouse on Fountainbridge where they stole two bottles of booze and around £1,000 from the till.
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They then returned with another male two hours later and took a torch down to the basement where they were able to steal the safe that had around £7,000 inside. The safe had a lot of the profits that the small business had made over Christmas and New Year.
“I received a call at 10:30am telling me that someone got inside our restaurant. I came and found the police waiting outside.
“We saw that a couple of guys smashed the glass door and got inside and took the till and broke our system as well as stole a couple of bottles of alcohol at around 04:30am. One kept watch whilst the other was stealing things.
“At 06:30am there were three guys, they took our safe this time, which had all of our Christmas money and New Year money inside. They probably stole around £1,000 in cash from the till but the safe had about £7,000 in it from our trading over Christmas and New Year.
“This is a good amount of money for us, especially after enduring the pandemic, and as a small business it is devastating. We were supposed to have a full house tonight but have had to close due to the robbery.
“It is so stressful to run a small business as it is with rising costs and inflation. I’m worried that it was someone with knowledge of the business as they knew where to look but what can you do.
“Police came and took fingerprints. I do not know if we will survive this.”
There was allegedly another robbery just down from the restaurant that opened in 2019 just two days ago. Suggesting that the area is being targeted by crooks.
In the video shared with Edinburgh Live, the glass door can be seen as it is smashed through and a man enters to steal two bottles and the till. Other clips show the thieves making their way through the restaurant with a torch and stealing the safe.
Those at Toro Latino are pleading with the public to come forward if they have any information relating to the theft.
A Police Scotland spokesperson said: “We received a report of a break-in to and theft from a premises on Fountainbridge, Edinburgh, around 09:50am on Saturday January 14 2023.
“Enquiries are at an early stage and ongoing.”
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