TOLEDO, Ohio (WTVG) – Security footage shows a person on a bicycle approaching South Detroit Ave. in Toledo at 3:35 a.m. on Tuesday, November 5, 2024. It shows him pedaling away from the Smokin’ Olive Deli.

A few hours later, the restaurant’s owner, Michelle Ryan, received a call from the security company. He rushed to find the restaurant’s glass door shattered by a brick.

“I came here so quickly in my pajamas and slippers that I approached there immediately. I start hyperventilating. I know it’s just a door, but I’m like, ‘How could someone do this?’ I thought. I was in shock,” Ryan explained.

According to Ryan, the person who broke the window climbed inside and stole the drawer from the safe. That drawer was full of cash.

“My main concern is, ‘Oh, he saw money in my drawer. He’ll come back and think: Oh, they keep the cash in their drawers, but we don’t keep the cash in our drawers anymore. We learned our lesson,” Ryan said.

When the security footage was examined more closely, it was revealed that the suspect on a bicycle walked away with the drawer.

“You can tell in the video that the drawer was in the basket on his bike and he was heading into the neighborhood,” said Ryan, who hopes someone can help identify the thief.

Meanwhile, Ryan said the community is rallying behind his 5-year-old business.

“I want to thank the Beverly District because they were, I might even start to cry, they were. It was unreal. I knew people loved us, but this week I realized how loved we were and how they didn’t want me to go anywhere. They were all worried that I would pack my bags and go somewhere else. I’m not leaving,” Ryan concluded.

If you have any information about the break-in or the suspect, Ryan asks you to contact Toledo Police.

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