Burglar breaks into multiple businesses in Glassell Park strip mall

GLASSELL PARK, LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Police are seeking the public's help in finding a getaway driver and the suspect responsible for breaking into and ransacking four businesses in the Glassell Park area.

The burglaries happened around 4:30 a.m. Monday in a small strip mall at York Boulevard and Verdugo Road, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.

LAPD on Tuesday released footage of a masked suspect throwing a crowbar through a glass door of a business that was targeted. A crowbar was used in the other burglaries, police said.

"The suspect entered each business, ransacked each location and removed US currency from the cash register of one of the businesses," according to the LAPD.

Police described the masked suspect as a 5-feet-7-inch tall man who weighs about 170 pounds. He was last seen wearing a black hoodie, black pants and white shoes.

The getaway driver was only described as a woman. The suspects' vehicle was described as a four-door, charcoal gray, early 2020 model BMW 3 Series.

Another surveillance video shows one suspect with his face covered smashing the front door of the Polka Restaurant.

With a blunt object in hand, he appears to casually walk through the restaurant to the kitchen area where he rummages through cabinets.

He smashes the front door glass. With the blunt object firmly in hand he appears to casually walk through the restaurant ending up in the kitchen area rummaging through cabinets and more.

The restaurant owner, Michael Budny, says police alerted him early Monday morning that his restaurant had been broken into. He rushed over to find the front door of his business shattered.

"Fortunately, we never keep any cash in our drawers or anything so it's just going to be damage to the window," he told Eyewitness News.

Budny soon learned that his business was one of four that were broken into overnight. He had these words for the suspect or suspects:

"I just want to speak to the coward that did it... if you want some money, please come and earn it legally. I need a dishwasher, I need a waiter. I will give you a job. Just don't come in and break the windows... and try to get cash easy... If you want, come in and I will give you a job. If you're hungry, I will give you food."

A man who owns a laundry mat just steps from the restaurant says the suspects also shattered the front door to his business.

"They tried to take the change machine... they tried to cut it in the back but they weren't successful," he said.

He says from what he's seen, the break-ins appear to be a two-person operation.

Police told Eyewitness News they're investigating the burglaries and are looking for anything that can lead them to the suspects.

As frustrated as they are, the business owners said they are happy the bandits only got away with about $22.

"He didn't take anything, he just did damage - nothing else," said Budny.