West Covina break in caught on camera; burglars hit several businesses at same time

Police are investigating a string of burglaries that occurred at a West Covina shopping center early Sunday.

One of the incidents was caught on camera, and the owners believe a group of theives split up and hit the neighboring businesses at the same time.

Around 4:30 a.m., the masked theives used a hammer to smash the front door of Temple Bar Urban Eats in the 120 block of Grand Avenue and ransacked the restaurant, surveillance video showed.

Though not much was stolen, the owners said they had to clean up the mess on the day they expected to host Super Bowl crowds.

“The damage far exceeds the worth of what they took,” co-owner Ron Beilke told KTLA.

“This place is really our home, we spend more time here than at our own home and to know these people came in here and caused this destruction, disrespected us, that’s devastating,” he said.

Beilke called the break ins “extremely disappointing,” and “calculated.”

The suspects vandalized and broke into three other businesses in the strip mall.

Sunday’s break ins come after a string of overnight burglaries at businesses throughout the Southland, including Long Beach and Rancho Cucamonga.