For the past month, there has been a series of burglaries of local San Diego establishments - including The Balboa, Young Hickory, Poor House Brewing, Lancers, 619 Vodka and possibly others. Well the owner of Bankers Hill's The Balboa Bar & Grill would not stand to be just another victim, so he went full detective mode and ended up helping police track down and arrest a suspect who may be behind the crime spree.
"When he broke into The Balboa, he stole a cell phone that a customer had accidentally left," detailed The Balboa Bar & Grill proprietor. "We tracked the phone to a motel in City Heights before it got wiped. I also had a picture of a suspicious vehicle from the break-in at Lancers, and it was parked in the motel parking lot. I got security footage from a business across from The Balboa and it showed the same vehicle. Cops executed a search warrant, found a safe but it wasn’t ours. We did some digging and it turns out the safe was from the Poor House break-in. Footage makes us think that the same guy also hit 619 Vodka and Young Hickory, too. We are still fitting some of the pieces together, but someone is in custody and there should be enough to get him on at least some of the burglaries."
North Park's 619 Vodka may have been the first area victim of the recent burglary spree. During the early morning hours of December 23, at least one individual busted the door and activated the alarm, which resulted in police being dispatched to the location. Apparently, the SDPD officers investigated the curtilage of the premises and departed, then the individual returned about 2 hours later and attempted to steal the safe. The individual got away without any property.
"He broke in by busting our door open at 5am," explained 619 Vodka owner Nick Apostolopoulos. "The alarm went off and the police were dispatched but just looked around from the outside and left. Then he broke in again at 7am. That time the police finally jumped the security gate like the guy obviously had, found the broken door etc. But the guy got away both times. He tried to steal the safe but didn't."
Young Hickory's North Park location was robbed during the early morning hours of January 14. At approximately 2am, an individual busted through the front door and proceeded to loot the business, stealing an undisclosed amount of cash from the company's register and safe.
Adams Avenue Bicycle was broken into by two male assailants during the middle of the night on Sunday, January 20. The perpatrators broke through the front gate, then shattered the store's front glass door, entered and grabbed three Cannondale mountain bikes, then left the premises. It was reported that they were driving a 4-door Toyota Tacoma pick up truck. Other victims report the assailant vehicle being a red Ford pick-up truck.
The thefts continued around San Diego during the last week of January. Poor House Brewing Company in North Park was broken into and robbed in the early morning hours of January 21. The thief took cash and a safe. The Balboa Bar & Grill was burglarized during the early morning hours on January 29. Again, the thief broke in through the front door, stole the safe and approximately $500.00 in cash. Lancers Cocktail Lounge in University Heights was also victim of a burglary, but we were unable to get details from management by the time of publishing.
San Diego Police confirmed that a suspect was arrested on the evening of January 31 at Navajo Lodge Motel at 5721 El Cajon Boulevard in Rolando.
"I was able to locate the arrest of Adam Elmir (50 Years Old) with the address provided at 1939 hours," stated Police Officer Billy Hernandez of the San Diego Police Department Media Services Unit. "He was booked for 2 counts of possession of stolen property, possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia. At this time, I am not able to confirm he was related to the burglaries listed...[t]he investigation is ongoing."
