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Woman caught on surveillance breaking into Old City restaurant, owner says

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Published  March 11, 2024 11:11pm EDT
Crime & Public Safety
FOX 29 Philadelphia

Video: Suspect seen vandalizing Cray Tasty Black-owned restaurant in Old City

An Old City restaurant is working to pick up the pieces after a thief shattered the front door with a rock during a break-in.

PHILADELPHIA - A Black-owned restaurant, Cray Taste is recovering after they say surveillance video captured a duo of sleuths vandalizing its Old City location on Market Street. 

"I have a big view of windows and it’s open so you can see everything that’s going on in the restaurant. Maybe that provoked them. I’m not sure," said Saquan Howard, Cray Taste owner, as repair workers spent the afternoon cleaning up broken glass after fixing the window and door.

"They seen the register on this side. They started breaking this window. But it was so thick they couldn’t get through it," said the owner, who is also a chef. 

He showed FOX 29 the rock he says was used to then shatter the front door and break in.

"It was two people right here. The guy threw the rock. Then the lady came through it and started going through the stuff," he explained after looking at surveillance video that captured the woman inside, while Howard says the man remained outside as a lookout.

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"She comes to this register, picks it up and throws it on the ground to break it," he said. 

Howard says the woman is seen on video breaking a second register.  Both were empty. It was Sunday night. The restaurant closed at six. Howard says he left around 9:45 p.m. and that the break-in happened just after 10:30 p.m.

"She’s going to come around while trying to cover her face," he said while watching the suspect on video. 

Eventually, she wanders into the back office where Howard says an employee was sleeping after his shift.

"As soon as she sees that she’s going to run out," he explains from the video.

Despite what happened, Howard remains positive. He says his business and being here have been a blessing.

"I’m not gonna stop. I’m gonna keep pushing," he said. The restaurant has been here three years. Howard says it was broken into last fall. He believes then it was kids and says they didn’t take anything but they did ransack the place. He says he filed a police report on the latest break-in. We contacted police and are waiting to hear back.