A suspected thief has been caught on camera breaking into a popular Swansea café before rifling through its till and escaping through the window. Police are investigating the incident which took place at Haystack in Brynhyfryd Square at around 6.30pm on Saturday, February 11.
Footage captured the man, who is wearing a hooded jacket, forcibly gain access into the property before breaking into the cash register and stealing money from within before clambering out through a window and fleeing. Police are now investigating the matter and say extensive inquiries are being carried out in the area. An inspector has also encouraged anyone who may have dashcam footage to get in touch. Get Swansea stories straight to your inbox with our newsletter.
Manager of Haystack Liam Lazarus said: "We delayed opening for an hour as we had to clean the kitchen because of all the glass which was smashed everywhere. The staff were all taken aback by the scare of it all – you always think it's not going to be you. We've never experienced a burglary like this before. I feel like it could have been a lot worse – the building wasn't smashed up, which is a normal result of a break-in, which would have disturbed the business for a bit longer.
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"We managed to patch up the glasswork immediately. Instead of all the trouble of insurance claims we thought it would be easier to crack on with it and we've put more safety measures in place. We've done our own post on social media which we had really good support from with 1,000 people sharing it. We've had a few strong leads which have been passed over to the police but any information anyone may have would be valuable. Customers have been really supportive and have come in just to see how staff are which has been really nice. It was just kind of a bit of a downer from the point of a view of staff."
Neighbourhood inspector Andy Price said: “South Wales Police was called just after 7.20am on Sunday morning, February 12., with a report of a burglary at a café on Brynhyfryd Square, Swansea. It was reported that someone had forced entry into the café and broken into the till. Extensive CCTV inquiries are being carried out by officers in the area. Business burglaries are not victimless crimes and I would appeal to anyone who witnessed the incident, or may have been passing in a vehicle and captured dashcam, to get in touch.” Anyone with information on the incident is asked to contact South Wales Police quoting occurrence 2300047156.
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