Police: Burglaries reported at 3 Little Rock restaurants on same day; safe, diamond among stolen items

Taj Mahal is shown in this 2010 file photo.
Taj Mahal is shown in this 2010 file photo.

Break-ins at three Little Rock restaurants, including two branches of the same fast-food chain, were reported Wednesday and cash and other valuables were stolen, police said.

Police arrived at the Church's Chicken at 1401 Martin Luther King Jr. Drive around 9:05 a.m. Wednesday and spoke with a 40-year-old manager, who told them someone had broken in, according to a police report.

A drive-thru window was cracked open and the surveillance system was tampered with, police said. The safe had been pried open and an undisclosed amount of money was reportedly missing.

The 40-year-old told police that the employee who closed the store the previous night was "acting suspicious." That person was not listed as a suspect on the report.

Police investigated another burglary Wednesday morning at the Church's Chicken at 1500 John Barrow Road.

The front door to the business was busted, the safe had been cut open and the electronic keypad was destroyed, a police report said.

A few computers in the back office had also been smashed, police said. A district manager told police about $1,000 was missing from the safe.

Police responded to the third burglarized restaurant, the Taj Mahal located at 1520 Market St., around 10:15 a.m.

The Indian restaurant's 32-year-old owner said someone broke the glass patio door and stole, among other things, an 80-pound safe, a USB drive, toys, cash and a diamond, the report said. The stolen property was reportedly valued at $3,200.

None of the reports named a suspect. Police were able to recover a blood sample from one of the restaurants.

Police spokesman Lt. Steve McClanahan said Thursday he did not immediately know if the thefts were being investigated as related but would look into it.

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