Burglars hit two Atlanta bars within an hour

By Mike Morris

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Atlanta police Friday were investigating the overnight thefts of three big-screen TVs in a pair of smash-and-grab burglaries at downtown bars just a mile apart.

Investigators were comparing security video from the Rise Sushi Lounge on Marietta Street and The Original Chocolate Bar on Trinity Avenue to see if the two burglaries were related.

The first incident happened just after 2 a.m. at the sushi bar, about a block west of CNN Center on Marietta Street.

Atlanta police Sgt. Brent Schierbaum said the thieves threw a brick through the glass front door of the bar before snatching a 42-inch TV from the wall.

The burglars tried to take a second TV but were unsuccessful in removing it from the wall, he told the AJC.

Less than an hour later, police received an alarm call from the Chocolate Bar a mile away on Trinity Avenue, Schierbaum said.

There, thieves tossed a cinder block through the front door, then stole two 40-inch flat screens.

General manager Janelle Ellzy said  it only took the burglars about five seconds to grab the TVs and leave. She said the burglary happened about 15 minutes after the last employee left for the evening.

Schierbaum said the thieves fled that scene in a green minivan.