Police are investigating an overnight burglary at a South San Jose bakery after a pickup truck slammed into the business early Thursday morning and a suspect made away with cash, cigarettes and lottery scratchers tickets.
The crash and burglary occurred at about 4 a.m. in a strip mall at 2857 Senter Road, Peter Tran, the owner of Queen Bakery, said.
Tran said his surveillance video shows the truck ramming his business and the suspect going straight for the lottery tickets and cash before fleeing on foot. He was woken up after the robbery when his alarm company called.
"I look at my phone, the camera, and I saw the whole vehicle went inside," said Tran. "So I told them to call the police and I also called the police myself."
The pickup later had to be removed with a tow truck. Police have also since determined that it was stolen.
Tran said he's been targeted multiple times for lottery scratchers tickets. He said thieves have broken in through the back, the roof and even through the business next door.
Work to fix the front of the store started later in the day Thursday, with Tran estimating the cost of the repair will be at least $12,000. That costs is on top of lost sales Thursday as well as the cost of the stolen merchandise.
"Now, with the economy, it's a tough time right now. A lot of businesses are getting broken into," said Tran. "I think that I have prepared myself, I expected this would happen to us."
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It was just weeks ago that San Jose police arrested six teenagers and one adult for a series of burglaries using similar methods, crashing stolen cars into stores and stealing merchandize. That group mostly targeted smokes shops.
Between March and August, police said there have been 26 commercial break-ins across Given that, Tran wants a greater police presence in the city.
"I want police, especially in this area and this community," said Tran. "They need to step up patrols, hire more police, clean up the city."
Tran also hopes to identify what batches of lottery tickets were stolen, so he can report it to the California lottery. That would give them the ability to make those scratchers invalid.
