Video shows Mexican restaurant in Chatsworth getting ransacked by thieves

CHATSWORTH, LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- A beloved Mexican restaurant in Chatsworth was burglarized on Friday and according to police, it was one of several hit in the area by a group of thieves.

The brazen crime happened just before 5 a.m. at Los Toros Mexican Restaurant on Devonshire Street and it was all captured on video.

Owner Nicolas Montaño spoke with Eyewitness News on Sunday and said the suspects got in through the bar door.

"Four of them, they ransacked the bar, looking for cash," he said. "Since they didn't find anything up there, they went upstairs to the office."

Montaño said the Los Angeles Police Department told him his business was one of several hit by the same group that targeted businesses in Chatsworth and Porter Ranch.

"They knew that there's cameras all over the place, we have signs saying that you're being surveilled and stuff like that ... just 10 minutes, boom, they're done," said Montaño.

The suspects used a crowbar to break open the door then ransacked the bar, breaking into the cash registers before making their way to the office. The video shows the suspects running up the steps.

They tore through the desks and cabinets then attempted to break open the safe.

All suspects were wearing masks and fled in a white sedan, possibly a BMW.

The group didn't get away with much but did leave behind about $10,000 worth of damage.

"Total frustration," said Montaño. "We've got to think of a way to keep this from happening, I mean it's going to happen, but there's got to be a way we can catch these people to keep this from happening again."

He's hoping the surveillance video will be key to capturing the thieves before they target any more small businesses during the height of the holiday season.

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