BALTIMORE — Early Thursday morning, two local businesses in Pigtown were robbed, and now police are looking for the suspects.
“Violated is the right word, like we just talked about, this has been a really hard year, a lot of blood sweat tears lot of tears in this place, and to come in and just see what you worked towards really damaged in a lot of ways, it can be really discouraging and frustrating," Heather Smith said.
Smith is the owner and chef of Swill by Blacksmiths.
Her business, along with Zeke’s Coffee, were robbed around 2:30 Thursday morning.
“We just lost a business last month who was a Best of Baltimore winner for woman’s boutique official hot mess, and now we have two break ins," said Kim Lane, Executive Director for Pigtown Main Street.
Smith says two people broke the glass on her door. A neighbor heard the commotion and scared them off before calling police.
The same robbers broke into Zeke’s Coffee shop less than a block away.
After police left Swill, those same suspects came back and finished robbing the place.
“Some folks busted out the window; unfortunately, they made off with our entire register," Smith said.
They stole over $1,500 in cash and damaged some of the equipment before leaving.
Smith says, although she is upset, she is glad no one was around at the time of the break-ins.
“To the guys who broke in, you know they should have been on the phone this morning at 7 o’clock listening to these business owners. They should have been seeing them try to sweep up glass, still open. You know, they should have seen how much this emotionally and financially impacts them," Lane said.
The stolen money means it's going to be hard to make payroll and buy new merchandise.
“Personally, I, Heather Smith, needed the money that you took in order to keep my business going and to pay my employees, who I really appreciate," Smith said.
Anyone with additional information on the break-ins should call the Baltimore Police Department.
