Paul Kim, owner of Raymond Deli and Riverdale Grocery, is offering a $1000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the suspects who attempted to break into his Riverdale store.
Monday, June 3 at approximately 1:50 a.m. two suspects armed with what is believed to be some sort of a crow bar attempted to pry open the front door at Riverdale Grocery before attempting to smash the door window in. Both attempts failed and the duo fled the scene down the alley behind the store.
The Menlo Store was also hit roughly 50 minutes prior to the Riverdale break-in where robbers were able to break out a window near the front door and steal cigarettes, rolling tobacco and rolling papers. "They didn't steal anything else we know of," the owner Kay Smith stated. "They pretty much broke out the window and took that stuff and that's all we really know."
Police are uncertain if the two incidents are related, but it was later learned that a string of residential burglaries have also hit the Riverdale area in recent weeks.
Kim isn't taking the attempted break in lightly. "I really hope the community and police work together on this," Kim stated. "We need to let these guys know we aren't going to take this. I'm not going to take this and none of us should."
The Riverdale store has several cameras that caught the suspects arriving on the scene and fleeing down the alley behind the store. In the security footage the duo appeared to be wearing masks and both were wearing shorts with long sleeve shirts. Police were able to get several key characteristics from the footage of the suspects that should assist in identification.
Police and store owners believe the suspects most likely frequent the stores and had enough knowledge to coordinate a robbery. "They obviously didn't think I had tempered glass," Kim stated. "This store has been hit before under the previous owner and these guys must have thought it was going to be easy. They were wrong."
Kim has decided to put additional security cameras up to cover the entire interior of the store and the outside perimeter. "If the cameras had been pointed just a little differently," he stated. "We probably would have a perfect shot of the guys and they'd be in jail right now."
Anyone with information is asked to contact the Raymond Police Department at (360) 942-4120 or call the non-emergency number at (360) 875-9397.