Six months after we reported on the break-in at Mark Pizza on 1708 S. Robertson Boulevard, it happened again. When owner Mark Douek arrived to open his pizzeria on Tuesday morning, he discovered that once more his shop had been broken into.
“They broke the window, stole around $200–$300, and left,” said Douek. “The insurance won’t cover the $2,000–$3,000 in damages because it’s lower than our deductible.”
Douek said he doesn’t believe it was the same criminals as last time. “This time they were Black,” he said, “but I’m not sure if they were also Black during the previous break-in.”
Not far from there, Haifa Restaurant on 8717 W Pico Blvd in Los Angeles, was also broken into that same night—by different suspects, according to surveillance cameras.
Restaurant manager Jouvani Mejia recalled this was the third time the eatery had been targeted within the past year. “They tried several times to force the front door, and when they couldn’t, one of them broke the side window and came in, followed by another guy. He had been here before—he knew exactly where he was going.”
The two men spent less than three minutes inside before fleeing. “The odd thing is, we had a couple of valuable items and they didn’t touch them,” said Mejia.
No other businesses in the area besides Mark Pizza were targeted, leading Mejia to suspect the thieves may have been focusing on Jewish-owned establishments.
When asked how he plans to protect his business from further burglaries, Douek said he intends to install more surveillance cameras, activate his alarm system, and check his mezuzah.
