Safe stolen, glass shattered at Fremont business during robbery
FREMONT, Calif. (KRON) — Shattered glass, ransacked rooms and a stolen safe all happened within minutes sometime early Thursday morning at Skilletz Cafe in Fremont’s Niles community.
‘Missing piece of the puzzle’: Oakland Mayor speaks on new police chief
“They broke two windows. All the doors inside were broken into. You could just tell, they were all forced in just because they were trying to figure out where things were,” said Priscilla Bravo, co-owner of Skilletz.
A day later, the co-owner is still coming to grips with her new reality. Bravo is a burglary victim for the first time in 10 years of co-owning Skilletz Cafe. Bravo says crime is rare in Niles, especially break-ins.
“I think it’s also like a wake-up call for everybody because sometimes we see it on the news and we’re like, ‘oh, yea. That’s never gonna happen to us.’ and, then all of a sudden it happens to us,” Bravo said.
Bravo says the thieves got away with a large safe and cash from the register. She says the loss and damages equate to several thousand dollars. A report has been filed with the police, but unfortunately, the business does not have security cameras that could have captured the burglary.
“Moving forward, we’re going to have to figure out a better way to have cameras. But, let’s be honest, even if you were to have cameras, there’s no way you were gonna stop them,” Bravo said.
Bravo describes it as a helpless feeling, but the community is primed to pick her up by continuing to eat at the business and even join the recovery effort.
“We’re gonna make sure that their safe is fortified, so next time this happens, they won’t get a safe,” said Drew Evans, a longtime Skilletz patron.
“Of course it’s frustrating. I mean, Niles is a wonderful little community. We take care of each other. And, we take care of our own. And, so we just want to be there to support her,” Rena Kiehn said, a Niles museum board member.
“I put so much love and effort into this and for someone to just come and take everything, it’s kind of like disappointing, hurt, you know, lot of mixed emotions,” Bravo said.
Bravo’s other eatery in town, Billy Roys Burger, is currently featured in Fremont’s Restaurant Week. She says ordering from either venue will go a long way.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KRON4.
