Sam Saberi is sending a message to the person who broke into his Aurora restaurant late on Saturday: “I’ll help you out.”
Saberi's restaurant, Tina’s Grill on McClellan Way, was broken into about midnight on Saturday, Sept. 29. Security camera footage shows a man with a backpack using what looks like a crowbar to smash the glass on the door. From there, he enters the building and began searching "everywhere."
“He looked everywhere for money, he looked at my cash register, he looked through the kitchen, looked through the back, all my cabinets, but the money comes out with me every night,” he said. “So it was just the damage to the property there. Everything else was safe.”
“People are struggling I get it, but this guy needs to, next time, just come and ask me, rather than doing something stupid,” said Saberi. “Come and ask me and I’ll help you out.”
Saberi said while it appears nothing was taken during the break-in, they lost a decent amount of business that day while police were investigating the incident, with the restaurant only able to open around 4 p.m. on Sunday. In addition, Saberi had to pay $800 for a same-day emergency appointment to have the glass door fixed.
This is the first time Saberi has faced a break-in the five years he’s been running the restaurant.
“We help the poor, we help the people in need, it’s something I would never expect to happen here,” he added. “But at the end of the day, the world’s a nasty place sometimes.”
York Regional Police Const. James Dickson confirmed officers responded to a break-and-enter in the area of Bathurst Street and McClellan Way on Sept. 29 at approximately 1:30 p.m.
“The break-in is believed to have occurred on Sept. 28, around 11:58 p.m. A single male suspect gained access through a glass break,” Dickson said in an email. “It is still being determined what was stolen.”
