Restaurant owners up security after police charge Pine Island man in string of ATM break-ins
(ABC 6 News) — Rochester police identified 47-year-old Jason Krukow of Pine Island as the man who allegedly broke into businesses targeting ATMS across the Olmsted County area.
RELATED: 6 Rochester businesses targeted by ATM break-ins, police say
Rochester police say Krukow was identified to have broken into
- Whistle Binkies on The Lake
- Zen Fusion
- Chip Shot
- Haley Comfort System/The Purple Goat
- Byron High School
- Rochester Sand and Gravel
General Manager for Chip Shots, Johnny Mangouras said the break-ins led him to be more in-tune with his security system.
“We are definetly way more diligent on reviewing camera footage, the alerts are on, we are in-tune to what’s happening,” Mangouras said.
Staff at The Pondy Restaurant and Bar said police confirmed to them that their restaurant was also targeted by Krukow, however Krukow has not been charged in Wabasha County, which is where The Pondy is located.
RELATED: The Pondy Restaurant and Bar targeted by break-in, according to owner
But owner of The Pondy, Steve Overton, still bumped up security.
“Now, we have a full security system, we had a security system on the doors, now we have breakage movement where it gets called to the police,” Overton said.
When general manager of Purple Goat, Charles Morris learned that Krukow was behind bars, he and his staff could rest easy.
“It’s an absolute relief because we know he’s not going to do it again,” Morris said.
Staff from the local restaurants said their anxiety was high as they never knew who would be targeted next.
Everybody was very paranoid, because they knew he was very very active,” Morris said.
Instead of panicking though, Mark Kranz, co-owner of Purple Goat said the restaurant community came together to help each other out.
“The local restaurant scene, like, everyone kind of came together and was communicating like oh well we’ve got footage of him in here this day taking pictures of stuff,” Kranz said.
Staff at the restaurants ABC 6 News spoke with expressed deep gratitude for Rochester police, complimenting their investigative work.