FORKS — An early Monday burglary at a popular pizza parlor prompted police later in the day to warn customers who used their credit cards at the eatery during the previous four days to alert their banks.
Police Chief Rick Bart urged customers to call their banks to tell them that data from their credit and debit cards might be in the hands of a burglar or burglars who broke into Pacific Pizza, 870 S. Forks Ave.
The burglary was one of two pre-dawn entries reported to police Monday.
A second entry was reported at Jerry’s Small Engines & Rental, 1051 S. Forks Ave.
The pizza parlor receipts from Thursday through Sunday as well as a sizeable amount of cash and a pizza delivery car were taken at about 3:30 a.m., Bart said.
Full credit card numbers are on those receipts, Bart said.
In addition to customers notifying their banks, Bart asked them to notify the Police Department at 360-374-2223 or email rbar.fpd@forkswashington.org if there is any unusual activity on the card accounts since Monday morning.
The cash and credit card receipts were inside a small safe that was removed by the burglars, Bart said.
“It was a sizable amount of money,” he said.
Bart said the burglars also found the keys to the pizza parlor’s delivery car and drove away with the white, four-door 2004 Chevrolet Malibu, license plate AIE3600,
Police believe the burglars drove the car eastbound on U.S. Highway 101 toward Port Angeles, Bart said.
“They knew what they were doing,” he said.
Calls to Pacific Pizza owner Mark Raben were not returned Monday afternoon.
Both burglaries occurred at around the same predawn time and are believed to be committed by the same person or people, Bart said.
Neither business has security cameras, but police are viewing tapes from nearby businesses in hopes of identifying the culprit or culprits, he said.
Between 50-60 gallons of gasoline were taken from Jerry’s Small Engines & Rental, and the thief or thieves went through many of the items stored inside, business owner Jerry Lappell said.
Lappell said he probably will not make an insurance claim on the theft and damage to his business.
“I’ll take care of it myself,” he said.
It was not the first time Lappell’s business had been broken into, he said, but it has been years since the last burglary.
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Reporter Arwyn Rice can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5070, or at arwyn.rice@peninsuladailynews.com.
