Police investigating string of business burglaries in Rancho Bernardo, Scripps Ranch

A string of business burglaries in several northeast San Diego neighborhoods has left business owners reeling and police on the lookout. Business owners believe the same person may be responsible for the crimes.

Surveillance video from Perfect Pizza in Rancho Bernardo shows a hoodie-wearing suspect sledgehammering their way through the front door around 4 a.m. on Monday.

The suspect first ditched a cash register filled with change, and then dragged the safe out the front door.

Hector Davila’s daughter got a cellphone alert from the smart cameras at the store. They called the cops as they helplessly watched from home while the crime unfolded.

“You’re first offended, then after that you’re filled with anger and rage because you’re being violated,” Davila, the owner, said.

Davila’s business isn’t the only one targeted.

San Diego police say they’re investigating whether the same person broke into the Subway and Todo Sushi on Carroll Canyon Road in Scripps Ranch around that same time Monday morning. They’re also looking at whether the person is responsible for previous burglaries.

Earlier this month, surveillance video from Yogurt Heaven in Scripps Ranch shows a burglar breaking into the store with a sledgehammer. It happened on Oct. 10. The suspect was wearing a red hoodie and dark pants.

That’s similar to the suspect caught on camera using a sledgehammer to break into Ponce’s Mexican restaurant in 4S Ranch around 3:30 a.m. on Oct. 18. Two other businesses, including Mostro Coffee, were also targeted that same day.

When NBC 7 showed Davila video of the suspect in the 4S Ranch crimes, he said, “He looks just like him, the person that came in here.”

Davila says Monday was the second time his business and some others in Rancho Bernardo have been broken into in the past six weeks. The first for him was Sept. 13.

Though the suspects were able to drag the safe to their getaway car on Monday, Davila says no money was inside.

He says though they didn’t get away with store profits, he says the mounting cost of door repairs is tough to swallow for his 4-and-a-half-year-old family business that employs some of his kids.

“That $1,500 could have gone to one of my kids as a paycheck for the week,” Davila said.