ABC13 confirmed that three businesses in the area got hit up between New Year's Eve and Tuesday. The man, each time, either took liquor or cash after hours. Without an arrest, the owner of Cobos said he thinks the burglar will be back.
"It's hard enough as it is," Raul Jacobo said.
He's been running a restaurant and bar for the last 14 months. He said it had come along with challenges, but nothing prepared him to become the victim of two back-to-back burglaries.
The first incident happened on New Year's Eve. An employee opened the restaurant and found the unexpected.
"She noticed the back door was pried open," he said. "The cash registers were pulled out. Everything was turned upside down."
Surveillance images show a man, who Jacobo recognized from prior run-ins, busting through the back door. Then on Tuesday morning, he said the same man used a brick to break through the front. He made off with several bottles of top-shelf liquor in less than five minutes.
"The bottom line is the guy knew where everything was. He knew what he was doing, and he was in and out," Jacobo said.
ABC13's Neighborhood Safety Tracker shows this type of crime is common in the area across the freeway from Minute Maid Park. In the last 12 months, the burglary rate per 100,000 people city-wide is 616. Near the East End, it's more than double that at 1,500.
Houston police and the Precinct 1 Constable's Office are investigating the break-ins, which put Jacobo back by about $11,000. He said businesses wouldn't be safe without increased vigilance by law enforcement and business owners across the area.
"We're all in it together. Everything will be OK," Jacobo said.
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