A smash-and-grab at an Amherstburg restaurant yielded nothing for a robber, and left a business owner with thousands of dollars in damage.
Matthew Johnston owns the Artisan Grill on Dalhousie and Murray St. — he says someone smashed in his front doors Thursday night.
"These days most transactions are done with a card, any money is taken with us every night, there's never any money on hand," Johnston says. "He searched around for about 30 seconds, scurrying behind the bar and then left out the same door that he entered."
Johnston tells AM800 News, while no money was taken, he's looking at thousands of dollars to fix some very old, and very expensive woodwork.
"The security factor, right, of having your space violated," says Johnston. "All the damage to the door frames, its two door frames that he had to go through
In a move that Johnston says is not common in Amherstburg, the man busted through and left an alarm blaring just before 11pm — when people were still frequenting nearby bars and walking their pets in plain-view on-camera.
"That's what makes it so scary, that they chose to do it when there are people around, there's an alarm screaming and there are people everywhere," he says. "They were really undeterred by that."
Johnston says the man fled in a dark coloured late '90's GMC pickup. Anyone with information is asked to call Amherstburg police.