TRIBECA — More than $10,000 in cash, and three bottles of alcohol worth a total of $505, were stolen from Mexican restaurant Dahlia’s, police said.
When workers arrived at the 353 Greenwich St., restaurant about 7 a.m. on July 17, they found a side door open with its window shattered, according to police.
Inside, the restaurant owner told police he found his basement office had been broken into, its lock broken off, and a padlock on an office cabinet, where the $10,040 was kept, had been drilled off.
In a surveillance video given to the Tribeca Tribune by the restaurant’s owner, one young man wearing a “Brooklyn” T-shirt can be seen walking about the office for more than 30 minutes, putting what appears to be cash in a bag and chatting on the phone.
Another man is also seen in a back room of the restaurant, caught on tape by another camera.
Police said three bottles of liquor, including $170 of Johnny Walker Blue Label, and two bottles of tequila worth a total of $235, were also taken from the office.
“They went straight to where we keep the money,” restaurant co-owner Huascar Then told the Tribeca Tribune. “They broke the door, they knew what they were looking at and they were talking to someone [on the phone].”
Then said the drill used to bust through the cabinet lock belonged to the restaurant and was kept with other tools in a different room.
“They really knew the place,” Then added.
The owner couldn't identify the men, however.
Police were still investigating the burglary.