Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
SALT LAKE CITY — A Marmalade neighborhood business is hoping the public can help it catch a criminal, after saying the business has been victimized by repeat burglaries. This isn't the only business in the complex to report being hit by thieves recently.
Serving handmade plant-based proteins and meals to loyal customers, Vegan Daddy Meats, on 300 West near 600 North, is a small business reliant on community support. Owner Adam Diener said the company just celebrated their first year since opening.
"Salt Lake City's awesome. Super supportive," he said.
Though, Diener is reaching out to ask for help solving a crime.
He explained how he arrived at work Thursday morning to find the business' safe gone, and a flashlight left behind. Looking back at video surveillance, he could see that a man broke in through one of the doors Wednesday night around 10:30 p.m. and made his way into the back.
"He unbolted it and took the entire safe that I just had installed," Diener said. Video shows the man leave holding the safe, which Diener said had about $200 in cash inside.
He said he bought the safe recently as a preventive measure. "Because it happened before," Diener explained, of being burglarized. "I'm like OK, well we'll put it in the safe, where it's safe."
Diener described that, in June, a burglar broke into Vegan Daddy Meats, which was also captured on surveillance. The video, which is in black and white because Diener said the lights were off, shows a man in the back room looking around.
The reason the cameras were installed for that incident — Diener believes he was burglarized another time a few weeks prior. But he didn't have cameras to prove what happened and said he didn't report the incident to police because he thought maybe it was an employee.
After the second burglary and, that time, with the cameras, Diener said he began leaving all the lights on at night and purchased the bolted-down safe.
Now he's been hit again.
"We lost a couple grand, collectively," he said. "It's really detrimental to us. It's hard."
Next door, Uncle Hot Pot owner Wen Xiang Huang had his own surveillance video, explaining his restaurant was burglarized in late July. He spoke about the incident with employee Tammy Li translating.
"It was around 5 a.m. in the morning, and one thief came into our restaurant and broke into our cash register," she said.
Several videos show a hooded person walking through the business with a flashlight. The person then steals the cash register, which Huang said had about $100 inside. He didn't realize someone had broken in until he arrived for work that morning and saw police were already there.
"He was told that our store got broken into, along with the hair salon, and upstairs the Pilates (studio)," Li said, translating for Huang.
Salt Lake City Police confirmed the two reported burglaries at Vegan Daddy Meats, saying investigators are still gathering information on the alleged Wednesday night case. KSL-TV inquired about the Uncle Hot Pot break-in, and potential break-ins at the salon next door and pilates studio upstairs and has not yet heard back.
Police said they responded Thursday morning to the building, but not originally for the Vegan Daddy Meats burglary. They said the salon called to report a burglary alarm, and officers determined no crime had occurred after speaking with the salon owner.
They took the call from Diener a few hours later.
Huang and Diener have both upped security measures, but Diener doesn't want to have to wonder if this will just happen again.
He's hoping someone will recognize the lone man captured on his surveillance cameras.
"I just really want to find out who did this," he said. "It keeps me up at night."
