Alleged thieves break into sports bar

SOUTHWEST MIAMI-DADE, Fla. (WSVN) -- Two masked men broke into a South Florida sports bar and took off with cash and valuables.

Newly released surveillance footage shows the two men using crowbars to break into a rear exit of Sports Grill around 3 a.m. Sunday morning. The perpetrators then made their way inside the restaurant through a narrow hallway.

A number of cameras in the main dining area captured the masked burglars heading for the office, where the management kept the safe. At one point, the video showed the two men, who were wearing dark clothes, crawling on the floor.

The bar's general manager said he was very, very upset about this early morning break-in. "This is a really good neighborhood, and for this to happen here is crazy," said Marcus Baez. "We've been open for four years, and this has never happened to us," he added.

Hours before the burglary, the owners and employees noticed four men who were keeping a close eye on their family-owned and run restaurant. Besides an undisclosed amount of money inside the safe, the alleged thieves took off with the establishment's computers.

"The next day, when we came in, we saw that the safe was intact, the restaurant didn't look too damaged, [but] when we opened the safe, I noticed that, obviously, our money wasn't in there," Baez said.

An exterior surveillance camera captured the burglars riding around the parking lot in a white Chevy Astro van.

Baez is hoping someone in the public will have some sort of clue to share in order to catch these men. "We don't really care so much about getting our money back," he said, "We care about getting these people off the streets. At the end of the day, if we can do that, that's all we care about."

Sports Grill also experienced damage to two tiles in the narrow corridor leading to the main dining area. According to the management, the alleged thieves also punched a hole in the wall inside the office where the safe is located.

If you have any information on this burglary, call Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at 305-471-TIPS. Remember, you can always remain anonymous, and you may be eligible for a reward.

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