Enterprise restaurant burglarized: Small business suffers due to burglary

Wanda Norris Snell is “heart-broken and disgusted” over a burglary that occurred at her Enterprise restaurant, Sweet Briar, between 5 p.m. Sunday night and 6 a.m. Monday.
She may close the restaurant because of the break-in.
Burglars smashed a small side window and entered the business, stealing all of the meat from the freezer, dry produce, canned goods and change out of the cash register.
“They didn’t steal the cash register, but they knew how to open it,” Snell said. “Someone even had pulled out the waitress tip bags and looked inside to see if they had any money in it.”
Snell found the missing items and broken window broken when she arrived at the business around 6 a.m. Monday.
“I haven’t had the business open but since the middle of August this year and already this happened. I’m really disgusted over this,” she said.
“I want to close it down and get out of the business since this has been done.”
Snell said she immediately called Enterprise police who sent Investigator Chris Hurley to the scene.
“This is so awful. I’m too trusting,” she said. “If anyone wanted food, I would have fed them. I feed people every day here who aren’t able to pay and for someone to take advantage of a small business, well, I just don’t know.”
Snell said she probably “will just go ahead and close the business.
“The police investigator told me that this place had been broken into eight times in four years with different owners. If I can’t protect what’s mine, then I don’t know what else to do but close the doors.”
Snell worries about other small businesses and those who come in to burglarize.
Enterprise Police Investigator Chris Hurley said a security alarm and cameras are needed at businesses to detect a burglar.
“With a business starting out, it’s difficult to afford high-tech equipment that you need,” Hurley said, adding that cameras on the outside of a business can deter a burglar, “but I know some small businesses trying to start up can’t afford it. We’ll take fingerprints, but it can take up to one to two years to get the results back.”
Hurley explained that fingerprints have to be sent to the Alabama Department of Forensics in Montgomery.
“Montgomery is so backed up because it’s the only police lab in the state and all the departments send information to it,” said Enterprise Police Capt. Mike Lolley. “High profile crimes, such as homicides, rape and others get top attention first and property crimes are near the bottom of the list, that is, unless we have a suspect.”
In the past six months, the police have seen an increase and a rash of residential burglaries, Lolley said.
“This is just a sign of the times and it’s all over town,” he said. “It’s not just in one neighborhood, but a lot has occurred in the past six months. We’ve had some months there are 30 burglaries reported, but the average is about 15 a month. It’s not so much businesses, but we’ve had several on the bypass and Rucker Boulevard.”
During the holidays, Lolley said more thefts occur during the holidays, more than burglaries.
“The best deterrent is to have an alarm system and good lighting in and around a business and the home,” he said.
“Take all the precautions you can.”