Idaho Falls Crime Up In 2011
Idaho Falls Police are looking for the persons of interest who burglarized a popular restaurant early Monday morning, Bubba’s Bar-B-Que.
The theft comes in a wave of burglaries and vandalism this month in the city and it has police on edge.
Officers said somebody slipped into the restaurant and stole a lock box from the manager’s office, but they don’t know how they got inside because there’s no sign of forced entry.
Bubba’s manager Trina Adams said she’s prepared for anything, even after a break in last night.
“We were up and running at nine in the morning, so it didn’t keep us down too long,” said Adams.
It’s not the first time someone has burglarized Bubba’s Bar-B-Que.
Last year a thief got away with a lock box full of money. After that, Adams said they began damage control.
“We don’t keep money in the building overnight,” said Adams.
That policy saved them from losing any money this time.
The burglar busted through a wall to steal an empty lock box.
Ken Brown with the Idaho Falls Police is investigating this case among several other recent burglaries and acts of vandalism.
“It’s like a big funnel. You know you’ve got a bunch of names in the big funnel at the top, and you try and narrow it down and find valuable suspects,” said Brown.
Brown said he thinks the Bubba’s burglary is an isolated crime.
But, other thefts this month at Los Adalbertos, Common Cents, and The Gun Shop could be all linked with common suspects.
“We don’t believe that Bubba’s was a connection, but when crime happens in streaks like this we look at them all,” said Brown.
Police have received 703 crime reports so far in July. If you compare that with last year’s 673 reports, it’s just a slight increase.
“Summer months are always up in crime. It’s warmer outside. There are more people out at two or three o’clock in the morning,” said Brown.
Adams said Bubba’s Bar-B-Que is continuing normal service. The only visible damage left on Monday was a hole in the bathroom wall.
The Museum of Idaho also received some damage over the weekend. On friday night, someone shot out its front doors with what appears to have been a BB gun.
