SEATTLE — One of the most beloved burger joints in Seattle, Red Mill Burgers, is at the center of a police investigation this week. It comes after another unusual and aggressive burglary at a nearby Phinney Ridge restaurant, The Blue Glass, about half a mile away.
Around 4:30 a.m. Wednesday, surveillance video obtained by KING 5 shows a U-Haul vehicle recklessly dragging a large, heavy-looking safe. Police later confirmed that safe was 500 pounds.
"It was just all the money we have," said Natalie Bauer, one of the managers at Red Hill Burgers.
She and her coworkers arrived at work Wednesday to find the safe was gone.
"Yeah, they like rolled it out somehow, I don’t know," she said.
She said, unfortunately, the safe was not secured to the floor.
"It was just crazy that somebody was able to come in and take that out," she said. "I was just kind of shocked, honestly. A little bit scared."
She added, "All the doors had kind of been like pried open. Like our metal door back there was bent."
Just five days prior, the Blue Glass restaurant on Northwest 65th Street also experienced a break-in by two men; it was also caught on camera.
"I think it was a crowbar," said James Kincaid, the restaurant's owner. "There was no cash in the in the cash drawer, which is right under the POS computer. And then they smashed the POS computer and just kind of ripped it off its shelf."
The video shows the pair proceeding to steal bottles of liquor from the restaurant.
Kincaid now faces costly repairs.
"I just hope that people will, you know, come to the restaurant to help support us," said Kincaid.