Cameras at the Rise and Grind Cafe captured thieves breaking in multiple times just a couple of days before the business was set to reopen.
The crimes happened at the cafe's location on Dr. Martin Luther King Junior Drive a few blocks south of Locust Street.
Surveillance video from around 4 a.m. Sunday showed two people wearing hats and hoodies stealing multiple monitors off of the walls.
Security video from Monday morning showed two more people in the kitchen taking food and supplies and then yanking a safe from the wall.
"Just frustrated because I'm like, 'Oh my God we have been violated again,'" owner Bobbi Tatum said.
Tatum said the thieves broke in multiple times seemingly through a door to a shared garage.
At times you can catch glimpses of their faces.
"I've never seen those people in my life not at all," Tatum said. "They were able to get in through that apartment building."
The stolen items include commercial monitors, two big screen televisions, two Vitamixes, iPads, their cash register, food, paper products, and more that staff is still sorting out. They estimated the total loss will be more than $10,000.
The last break-in was around 6 a.m. Monday right before Tatum showed up.
"I'm just glad that we weren't here," Tatum said.
This comes during a remodel and just days before the cafe was set to reopen.
"We've been trying to open for the last three years trying to survive after the pandemic. We wanted to make a big comeback this Saturday," Tatum said.
The owner is grateful they have insurance and for the community that is stepping up to help.
The new reopening will be on April 29.
"We're gonna just try to work hard to at least open. It may not be with everything we had, but we're gonna open next Saturday and we're just gonna make the best of it. We got to get some income coming in here. Our staff is ready to go," Tatum said.
Milwaukee Police are investigating.
The cafe switched out the locks and plans to invest in an alarm system.
Bobbi warns other businesses to be alert. In the meantime, she is determined to push ahead.
"Last year was a rough year for us. I've learned not to give up. I actually was blind last year. My daughter had cancer last year. So behind all that we're still standing. Rise and Grind is still standing so I just stand on my faith in God. Just keep going," Tatum said.
It’s about time to watch on your time. Stream local news and weather 24/7 by searching for “TMJ4” on your device.
Available for download on Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, and more.
