The INDsider

Saint Street Inn targeted in overnight burglary

by Christiaan Mader

Neighborhood farm-to-table eatery Saint Street Inn lost a stocked cash register, its point of sale iPads and sensitive identity information in a break-in sometime after 2:30 a.m. Thursday.

Saint Street Inn's Nathan Stubbs

Sometime after 12:30 a.m. Thursday, burglars bashed in Saint Street Inn’s door, making off with two iPads, the cash register and a handful of payroll checks. The “fine diving” eatery, near the corner of West St. Mary Boulevard and Brook Avenue, closed for lunch today while owner Nathan Stubbs and his staff regrouped, scrambling to borrow an extra iPad to run their restaurant point of sale system and setting up a reserve credit card machine. Stubbs reports that despite the set back, Saint Street Inn will resume service this evening at 6 p.m., its normally scheduled dinner hour.

“We’re going to have to shoe-string it together a little bit,” Stubbs says. “It could have been a lot worse.”

A former Independent staff member, Stubbs was the first to discover the aftermath at 9:30 a.m., walking up to a splintered door jamb and a stiff deadbolt, obvious signs of violent forced entry. He speculates that a hammer he discovered in the alley alongside the restaurant may have been the tool of entry.

While $800 in cash was stolen with the register, perhaps the scariest loss was the confidential information located on the three payroll checks that were part of the loot. Potential for identify theft by way of Saint Street’s bank account and routing information seen on the checks could have led to further damages via credit fraud, had Stubbs not flagged his account for protective scrutiny on the advice of his bank.

This is a serious blow to a small, community-oriented restaurant, yet Stubbs is thankful that none of his staff was harmed during the crime, and says he plans to continue business as usual. Musicians Julie Williams and Hayden Tally will perform an "old school set" on the restaurant's front porch tonight at 7:15, making for sweet consolation for a neighborhood staple.