Thieves leave restaurateur with massive bill

A Geraldton restaurant owner is warning people to be vigilant with their belongings after thousands of dollars worth of equipment was stolen from his shop on Monday night.

Origin India owner Jicky Sharma, who is in the middle of renovations, said he was devastated to return to his store on Tuesday morning to find cooking equipment and cash had been stolen.

“We were working in the store on Monday night — doing some renovations — and left just after 8pm, when I returned to the restaurant the next morning I found the back door open and so much had been taken, ” he said.

“The till was broken into and hundreds of dollars of cash was stolen, cooking equipment worth thousands of dollars was gone and the safe had been forced open with an electric drill.

“It is so sad that this has happened to us.”

According to Mr Sharma, about $700 in cash and equipment worth more than $2000 had been stolen.

He said the burglary has left him feeling violated.

“We are working hard every night after hours to make this place nice for our customers — so for this to happen, it hurts, ” he said.

“We feel violated; it’s not just about money, it’s about time spent here — and we do spend so much time here.

“Now we are taking this as a chance to tell the Geraldton community to take precautions — be careful because this can happen to anyone.”

At the time of going to press the Geraldton police said the incident was still under investigation, and were unable to comment.