Cash register drawers were stolen from two Ann Arbor restaurants during the Memorial Day weekend after windows were smashed.
Employees discovered Monday Raja Rani was broken into sometime overnight.
File photo
Ann Arbor police Lt. Renee Bush said an employee arriving to open the restaurant at 400 S. Division St. Monday found a window in a side door was broken. The register drawer, cash and an iPad were reported stolen, Bush said. The theft was believed to have occurred between 10:30 p.m. Sunday and 10 a.m. Monday.
The other break-in was between 10:03 p.m. Friday and 7:15 a.m. Saturday at Subway, 1701 Plymouth Road. An employee came to work and found a glass door was smashed. The register drawer, and the cash inside, were reported stolen.
Both break-ins are still under investigation, Bush said.
“They took the cash registers from both, which is kind of unusual,” she said.
There was no suspect description available for either incident.
Jay Singh, manager at Raja Rani, said it’s the first break-in he can remember in his 15 years at the business. Employees are moving on from the shock of the incident and he said it’s important for the restaurant to be there for its regular customers.
“Luckily, we were able to open the business and go into business as usual,” he said.
Security will likely be increased, he said, adding, “We don’t want to wait until the day when something happens and we can’t open the business.”
Raja Rani, the first Indian restaurant to open in the state of Michigan, has been in business for 40 years and has become a staple of downtown Ann Arbor’s culinary scene.
Singh said he’s not sure why the burglars targeted the restaurant.
“Breaking into a restaurant, unless you’re a chef, there’s not much to take,” he said with a laugh.
Anyone with information on these burglaries is encouraged to call the Ann Arbor police anonymous tip line at 734-794-6939 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-SPEAK UP (773-2587).
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Kyle Feldscher covers cops and courts for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at kylefeldscher@annarbor.com or you can follow him on Twitter.