Downtown Durham small business owners are welcoming news of an arrest tied to multiple January break-ins, though many say a broader pattern of overnight burglaries remains unresolved.
Durham police announced Monday that Keith Demetrius Wright, 30, was arrested and charged with multiple felony counts tied to a series of break-ins that occurred between Jan. 23 and Jan. 28 at local businesses downtown and elsewhere in the city.
“I’m genuinely grateful that what businesses have been dealing with is finally being seen and taken seriously, especially during an already stressful time when many of our beloved ma and pas are already having such a hard time trying to stay open,” said Dawn Bland, 47, a partner at Center Studio Architecture and longtime downtown advocate. “At the same time, while I appreciate the arrest, it appears to address only a portion of the break-ins businesses have been experiencing.”
Bland raised concerns earlier this month, sending an email to city officials and police leadership calling attention to what she described as a sharp uptick in restaurant and retail break-ins.
“I just kind of lost my patience and wanted to know why I’m not seeing anyone address the unbelievable amount of break-ins that we’ve had just in January alone,” Bland said.
Locations of recent break-ins. Map by Valentina Garbelotto.
Bland also posted a public call for business owners and workers to report break-ins through Bull City Shares, a Durham-based Facebook group with nearly 13,000 members. Within hours, she said, dozens of reports poured in from across downtown.
As of Friday afternoon, the post documented 36 break-ins in January affecting businesses across the city, including more than two dozen downtown restaurants and small businesses. Several locations, including bars and restaurants on Main Street and in Brightleaf Square, reported being hit multiple times.
Among the businesses reporting break-ins through the Facebook group are Mavericks, James Joyce Irish Pub, The Federal, Stanczyk’s, Elmo’s Diner, Parlour Ice Cream, Velvet Hippo, M Sushi, Pizzeria Toro, Durham Beer Garden, Alley Twenty Six, Miel Bon Bons, Little Bull, Mezcalito, Aaktun and others.
Bland said many owners had already reported incidents to police. She felt the scale of the problem was not widely understood, though.
Josh Whitman, 57, co-owner of The Federal at 914 W. Main Street, said his restaurant was broken into twice in the last month, on Jan. 7 and Jan. 19, each time in the early morning hours. According to a police report, the Jan. 7 break-in happened at 2:30 am.
“They definitely spent some time going around trying to find valuables,” Whitman said. “The main thing is they got into the register where we keep our petty cash.”
Each break-in resulted in about $450 stolen, he said. He also incurred additional costs for new cameras, changing locks and cleanup.
“We’ve been there for 22 years, and I think we’ve had literally one break into the back area in that time,” Whitman said. “But no break-ins inside the restaurant in 22 years. So for it to happen twice in the last month, there’s definitely something going on. I would say there’s been a rash or epidemic of break-ins in the last month.”
Whitman said small businesses may be seen as easy targets.
“They probably feel like it’s easy pickings,” he said. “They’re all small businesses. They’re not typically outfitted with the latest in security gear.”
“Anytime something like this happens, everybody feels somewhat violated,” he added. “You have to reset every single time.”
Rock’s Bar and Hair Shop at 119 W. Main St. also suffered a break-in last week, according to police reports and general manager Jared Moll. Moll, 44, said his business was broken into at 5:40 a.m. last Tuesday.
“They found a giant brick,” Moll said, “and they tossed it through our window.”
Cash was taken, and the damage forced the shop to scramble for repairs on one of the coldest mornings of the month.
At Mavericks, manager Walter Stanley, 33, said a glass panel on a garage door was damaged during early Tuesday morning. The damage added to repair costs and staff stress, according to Stanley and to police reports. “These are things that end up costing money,” he said. “It’s other people’s labor, it’s other people’s time, which we’re already short of all the time anyway.”
At Fate & Folklore — a Market Street store selling tarot cards, incense, jewelry and related items — owner Diana Abreu, 41, said a man broke her window early Wednesday morning and climbed in. A police report noted that the thief took cash and jewelry. Abreu said January is generally a slow month for retail. That has been compounded this year by recent winter storms.
“Between what they took and the price of replacing the window in a month where I’m already not really making a lot of money, it’s the icing on the cake, is how I’ve described it,” she said.
“I don’t feel safe having the store be left unattended. If they’re bold enough to do it, like right in front of the square, nobody’s safe,” Abreu said. “They feel empowered, like they can get away with it.”
Bland said she has already received responses from Durham One Call, the City Manager’s office, a City Council member and the Durham Chamber of Commerce. But she said more action is needed.
“This is about showing patterns, frequency and impact,” she said. “And pushing the city to acknowledge and address what’s happening. I hope we can continue to work together to bring awareness to the hardships of the folks that make up the threads of the fabric of our city.”
Bland said business owners are continuing to organize through a new private Facebook group for central Durham businesses, created to share real-time information.
As reports continue to surface, business owners say visibility remains critical even after the recent arrest.
Durham Police released a statement Tuesday saying that the department is continuing to investigate the break-ins.
“The Durham Police Department’s Criminal Investigations Division is continuing to actively investigate all related cases,” the statement reads. “While community involvement and public awareness are always appreciated, each individual case is unique. We cannot provide specific investigative techniques being used in order to protect the integrity of each individual case. The investigation into these incidents are ongoing, and there are no further updates at this time.”
Above: The empty cash register at The Federal following a recent break-in. Photo courtesy of Josh Whitman
Valentina Garbelotto
