FREMONT, Calif. (KRON) – Glass was shattered, a room ransacked and a safe stolen early Thursday morning at the Skillets Cafe in Fremont's Niles community, all within minutes.
“They broke two windows. All the doors inside were broken down. As you can see, they were all forced in just because they were trying to figure out what was where. ” said Skillets co-owner Priscilla Bravo.
A day later, the co-owners are still coming to terms with their new reality. Bravo became the victim of a robbery for the first time in the 10 years since he co-owned the Skillets Cafe. Bravo said crime, especially trespassing, is rare in Niles.
“I think this is also kind of a wake-up call to everyone, because sometimes you see it on the news and you think, 'Oh yeah.' That will never happen to us. . “And all of a sudden, it happens to us,'' Bravo said.
According to Bravo, the thieves made off with a large safe and cash from the register. She said losses and damages amounted to thousands of dollars. A police report has been filed, but unfortunately the store does not have any security cameras that could have captured the robbery.
“Going forward, we'll have to come up with a better way to have cameras on board. But to be honest, even if we had cameras, there's no way to stop it,” Bravo said.
Bravo describes it as a feeling of helplessness, but the community is trying to welcome her by continuing to eat at the store and even participating in recovery efforts.
“We're going to make sure their safes are hardened so the next time something like this happens, they won't be able to get their hands on them,” said Drew Evans, a longtime Skillets customer. he said.
“Of course it's frustrating. I mean, Niles is a great little community. We take care of each other. And we take care of ourselves. And we just want to be there and take care of her. We want to support them,” said Niles Museum Director Lena Keene.
“I put so much love and effort into this and then someone comes along and takes everything away from me, and it's a kind of disappointed, hurtful, mixed feeling,” Bravo said. Ta.
Another Bravo eatery in the city, Billy Roy's Burgers, is currently featured in Fremont Restaurant Week. She says ordering from either venue will go a long way.
