On the Beat: Downtown burglaries

City police are investigating a string of downtown burglaries over the past several weeks, the most recent at St. Joseph's School on Summit Street, which was broken into twice on Monday and Tuesday, according to the Daily News. Palace of Sweets in Batavia City Centre was the target last week, according to Det. Richard Schauf, who told reporter Scott DeSmit that the thief made off with about $900 in cash and may have had the key to the office.

The burglar broke glass to enter the store and then opened steel blinds which bar entry to the store after-hours, to get back onto the mall concourse and, apparently, leave the building.

Dan's Tire Service and Ponderosa Restaurant were also broken into in August. Nothing was taken from the restaurant. Dan's Tires reported about $155 in cash missing from the register.

The Batavian called the police chief Tuesday morning to get some information about the downtown burglaries. We had received reports of the robberies, and several readers had come to us looking for more information about the city's law enforcement. One reader said she heard a lot of sirens over the weekend, more than seemed usual. We phoned the dispatch center to inquire about the sirens. We were told that they do not log calls in a blotter and were too busy to provide any other information.

Dan DiLaura, owner of Dan's Tire, told us that the burglary there on August 23 happened around 10:00pm. The thief smashed a window at the garage and left a blood trail leading from the entry to the cash register. DiLaura said it was a bit puzzling, because the thief seemed to know the exact location of the money, judging by the trail. Also puzzling, the $1,500 flat-screen television about a dozen feet from the cash register was left untouched.