Candy Store Break-In Latest In Strikes On Lamorinda And Walnut Creek Businesses

WALNUT CREEK, CA — Burglars targeted a Lafayette candy shop this weekend, making the little store the last in a spate of break-ins in the area, including Walnut Creek.

Burglars smashed through the front door of Zoonie’s Candy Shop, 3591 Mount Diablo Blvd., in downtown Lafayette about 4 a.m. Saturday, according to the owner, David Harrison.

He said burglars pried out the store’s entire safe, bolted to the floor in the back room, and then took cash from a tip jar — and a few candies on the way out.

Harrison told KRON4 that the burglars were after the money, so they jack hammered down the floor safe and took the whole safe as well as a couple of tills.

Just a week and a half before, about a block away, surveillance video captured burglars breaking in to Panache Cafe and stealing the shop’s safe.

Surveillance video from Nov. 6 shows at masked men breaking down the front door of the café at 3653 Mount Diablo Blvd. Apple Sampaeng, the business owner, told KRON4 that she was getting the café ready for opening when the burglars struck. Sampaeng said she was hiding in the dark and clutching onto a baseball bat. The burglars took a large safe that was bolted to the floor, according to reports.

Friends and patrons who set up a GoFundMe for Sampaeng have raised nearly $10,000.

The restaurant owner of Oyama Sushi next door, at 3651 Mount Diablo Blvd., said the business has been victimized so many times they keep a supply of plywood on hand for boarding up broken windows. Peter Wang said that he does not keep much money on hand. But the repairs are expensive.

Police say they are looking into whether the break-ins are connected.

Customers are also frustrated by the confrontation with crime place in a town that’s usually considered safe. “If we want stores like this to be here, then we need to protect them and make sure it doesn’t happen.” a customer, Kristine Erving, said.

Nearby, Walnut Creek stores are dealing with a smash-and-grab operation that targeted at least five local businesses, leaving owners on edge and storefronts damaged. Other businesses confirmed that they were targeted, including Mr. Lucky's Bar & Grill, Crepes Ooh La La, and Xicote Cocina Mexicana.

Walnut Creek police said the suspects shattered glass storefronts, grabbed what they could, and moved quickly from business to business.

In Orinda, thieves struck the Beverages and More store at 6 Camino Pablo.

Police have released no information on the theft or description of suspects.