The Grove business district sees handful of break-ins overnight

ST. LOUIS, Mo. (First Alert 4) – Thieves targeted The Grove business district overnight in the Forest Park Southeast neighborhood.

At least five businesses were hit early Monday morning on Manchester, including Neon Greens, Serendipity Homemade Ice Cream, Creole with a Splash of Soul, Platypus and Eat DuckBill. All restaurants and bars impacted have had their windows or doors smashed.

Beckie Jacobs owns Serendipity Homemade Ice Cream and said her store was broken into just before 4:20 a.m. when the thieves used a tool to shatter the glass.

“They’re just punks looking for some extra cash,” Jacobs said. “They suck.”

Jacobs said it was annoying and irritating, but she was glad nothing had been stolen.

“Two people came in, two people stood outside,” Jacobs said. “They walked over to my cash register, saw that my staff did exactly as they’re taught, which is to take the money out of the drawer and leave the drawer open so they walked over there, saw it was open and empty, slammed the drawer angrily and walked out.”

Just a block away, Creole with a Splash of Soul owner Ronda Walker was also dealing with the aftermath of the thieves taking both her cash registers and printers moments after. Walker said that in her case, the thieves had thrown a patio chair through the window to get in.

“It’s really unfortunate that any business has to be impacted and affected this way,” Walker said.

Walker said the cost of the window, new registers and new printers will be around $4,000.

“We work very hard for what we have and what we do,” Walker said. “It not only affects us but it affects the community. The whole environment in general. We need nice places to go and relax and feel safe.”

However, there is something in place to help these business owners. Alderman Michael Browning said the community improvement district in The Grove has contingency funds to help with at least some, if not all, of the costs to repair the windows and doors at these businesses.

“I don’t think that The Grove is not a success story because of incidents like these,” Alderman Browning said. “It happens, but it’s a bump in the road on the way to a brighter future.”

Alderman Browning said there is an extensive camera network throughout The Grove, which shows footage of the thieves on the street. He said that will help hold these people accountable when they are caught.

Business owners told First Alert 4 that now more than ever, people need to support these small and locally owned shops.

“I’m not deterred,” Jacobs said. “This is a great community. The Grove is a lovely place. People who live here and work here are wonderful. In every neighborhood, there is always going to be somebody that spoils the fun for the rest of us. But we’re not going to let them spoil our fun.”

SLMPD also told First Alert 4 that overnight there were a handful of break-ins at businesses in the Clayton-Tamm, The Hill and Lindenwood Park neighborhoods, most of them having cash registers stolen.

SLMPD said Pint Size Bakery, Stone Turtle, Guido’s Pizzeris & Tapas, Dogtown Clover & Vines, and Adriana’s on the Hill were also hit.

First Alert 4 asked if these break-ins are connected, and SLMPD said at this time officers are unable to definitively confirm it is the same suspects.

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