An Edinburgh chef has been left "devastated" after a group of thieves broke into his restaurant twice in the space of two hours - stealing a total of £8,000. Piersalvo Trovato, head chef and co-owner of Toro Latino Steakhouse, said that two robberies were carried out at roughly 4.30am and 6.30am on Saturday, January 14.
He also believes that the gang had prior knowledge of the restaurant's layout, as they were able to easily locate the safe before making a quick getaway, Edinburgh Live reports.
During the first break-in, two men gained entry to the premises by smashing the glass of the front door. One then stood guard outside while the other stole roughly £1,000 from the till and two bottles of alcohol.
Two hours later, the brazen thieves returned with another male and made their way to the basement, where they were able to obtain the safe that had around £7,000 inside. Most of the money was profit the small business had made over the festive period.
Mr Trovato said: “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 4.30am"
"One kept watch whilst the other was stealing things. At 6.30am, 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.”
CCTV at Toro Latino Steakhouse caught the thieves on video and shows one of the crooks stealing two bottles of booze and the till after smashing the glass door. Other clips show the group navigating their way through the restaurant using a torch and obtaining the safe.
Staff at Toro Latino are urging anyone with information on the break-in to please come forward. Another alleged robbery took place just down the street from the restaurant two days ago, suggesting that burglars are currently targeting the area.
A Police Scotland spokesperson said: “We received a report of a break-in to and theft from a premises on Fountainbridge Edinburgh, around 9.50am on Saturday, January 14, 2023.
“Entry was gained to the premises and a four-figure sum of cash taken. Enquiries are ongoing and anyone with any information is asked to contact 101 quoting incident 0996 of January 14, 2023.”
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