SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - A streak of burglaries took place in the Santa Barbara area early Monday morning.
South Coast Deli and Choi’s Oriental Market on Patterson Avenue in Goleta had their front doors shattered in. The deli had its cash drawer and safe stolen.
Jim St. John is the owner of South Coast Deli.
“The alarm company called us right away, called sheriffs right away, and we hustled over here and found the place with the glass broken into the door and they took one cash drawer and they took our safe,” St. John said.
St. John said the only thing the business could do was clean up the mess and get ready for the workday.
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Then in the early hours Sunday, South Coast Deli and Choi’s Market, both located on the 100-block of South Patterson Avenue, were burglarized as the suspect smashed the front glass doors, stole items, and fled prior to deputies’ arrival around 3 a.m., according to Zick.
Less than an hour later, Pierre Lafond Market & Deli, 516 San Ysidro Road in Montecito, was the victim of another burglary with “very similar circumstances,” Zick said.
Detectives are treating the investigations as four separate instances while they review surveillance video and until the incidents can be linked to the same suspect, Zick said, adding that the Sheriff’s Office is not disclosing the exact items stolen in the burglaries as the investigation remains ongoing.
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