Thief breaks into local coffee shop, steals van

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – A coffee shop in southeast Albuquerque is cleaning up after an overnight break-in. The thief — as you might imagine — wasn’t after their daily cup of coffee.

Rise and Roast on Eubank near Central was open for business Saturday morning, serving customers at the drive-through window. But the front door was boarded up and the lobby was closed for cleanup after an overnight break in.

"It was heartbreaking because there’s a lot of work that goes into this stuff and we’ve been working our butt off the last few years to build this business," said Ian Lowe general manager at Rise and Roast.

Lowe says he discovered the break-in early Saturday morning opening the store. The thief used a rock to break in, throwing it through the front door, shattering the glass.

"And it went right through and struck the very base tile here of our case and thankfully it didn’t hit our case. Had it hit our case it’d be a while different deal because we absolutely need that case to be selling anything, so we’re blessed it didn’t hit it," said Lowe.

But things turned from bad to worse when he realized the thief also stole the shop’s delivery van parked outside — even though it’s easily recognizable. Probably a reason why Lowe says police were able to find the van later in the morning.

"Hopefully it isn’t damaged too badly and hopefully we can be right back on the road soon," Lowe said.

It’s another small business people can add to the already long list of businesses burglarized by criminals in Albuquerque.

"You are hurting small businesses and those small business aren’t just the businesses, it’s the individuals that work here, it’s their families, it’s the other stores that rely upon us and their customers and their families. You just have to know that you’re causing a lot more harm," said Lowe.