Two North Fork businesses hit in overnight break-ins; $900 stolen, police say

A brick-throwing bandit broke into two North Fork businesses overnight — swiping about $900 from one, police said.

The brazen break-ins occurred between midnight and 5:15 a.m. Thursday at Center Cuts in Mattituck and La Antigua deli in Cutchogue, according to Southold Police Chief Steve Grattan. 

In both cases, the thief “used a brick or cinder block to smash through the front glass door or window to gain entry,” he told The Suffolk Times on Friday.

At La Antigua, located at 28095 Main Road, both cash registers were damaged and roughly $900 was stolen, police said. Center Cuts, about three miles east on County Road 25, reported nothing missing.

La Antigua owner Yanira Navidad said surveillance footage shows the break-in occurred between 1:30 a.m. and 2:30 a.m. Thursday.

“In the video, see he broke the window and he entered from the window, and when he finished he left in the window too,” Ms. Navidad told The Suffolk Times on Friday.

She said she noticed the damage around 5 a.m. Thursday when she arrived to open the store and contacted her husband, who accessed the surveillance footage and called Southold police. 

Ms. Navidad described the suspect in the video as a tall, slim man wearing a gray or white hoodie. The footage did not show his face, she added.

Anthony Beilman, manager of Center Cuts, said he got a call from the owner around 7 a.m. Thursday and rushed over to the store. He found a hole in the front door, glass scattered across the floor and a trail leading toward the register.

“I was expecting a place to be flipped upside down. I don’t know what spooked him, but he didn’t take a single dollar,” said Mr. Beilman. “There was even a tip jar on the counter with money still in it. Something must have spooked him, and he kind of walked out, but, yeah, a little scary.”

Mr. Beilman said there was no visible sign the bandit was injured inside the store, and the brick or block used to break the door was not left behind.

Police believe the incidents are likely connected.

“Based on location and the MO, I think it’s safe to assume that was done by the same individual,” Chief Grattan said.

The investigation is ongoing, and both businesses are working with police to share surveillance footage, Chief Grattan said.