The Docks eateries burglarized 6 times

Bottles of alcohol appear to be a target

The facade on Admiral's American Grill at The Dock's on September 13, 2011.

EDITOR'S NOTE: This version corrects the name of Detective Blake Watkiss.

A string of unsolved burglaries at The Docks restaurants has Toledo police seeking the public's help with identifying three men caught on a security camera in the latest incident.

"At least in the last two incidents, they used either a chair or a stool to gain entry: a deck chair at Zia's and a stool at Admiral's [American Grill.] On the video, you can see three guys with a stool bashing against the window at Admiral's," Detective Blake Watkiss said. "We think it's the same people and we are looking for them. Any Crime Stopper help would be helpful."

There were six burglaries at the East Toledo restaurants altogether since July, the detective said.

The latest occurred at Admiral's, 30 Main St., about 1 a.m. Tuesday.

The alarm didn't go off, so the incident was reported in the morning by employees who arrived at work, found a window and the patio broken into on the south end of the building, and then saw that bottles were missing from the bar near the bashed window.

The same night, there was a break-in at Zia's, 20 Main St., where someone used a chair to break out the door window on the river side of the restaurant.

Detective Watkiss said that whoever did it was apparently looking for bottles of wine and liquor but didn't find them. That's because he had already alerted the management to the break-ins and the bottles were promptly put away and locked up for the night, he said.

"So the booze wasn't where it used to be, they didn't find it, so they did some vandalism and left. Then, I am guessing, they went down to Admiral's," Detective Watkiss said.

Of the earlier break-ins, the first incident occurred July 13 at El Vaquero Mexican Restaurant, 24 Main St., in the first part of July; there was no reported loss at the time. Then within the past month there were three burglaries at Zia's, in which bottles of alcohol were taken every time, according to police.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Crime Stopper program at 419-245-1111, the detective said. Callers may remain anonymous and may qualify for a cash reward.

Contact Mike Sigov at: sigov@theblade.com or 419-724-6089.