Suspect vandalizes and robs local restaurant

A Yuma restaurant, Crouse’s Flat Top Grill, was vandalized by an unknown suspect, Tuesday night. According to police, the restaurant was broken into along with two other businesses, both located on 4th Avenue. While the crime is still under investigation by law enforcement, the owners of Crouse’s Flat Top Grill said the break-in cost them one day of business. The owners’ primary focus was on repairing the window damage and loss of multiple items and cash on Wednesday. One of the owners of the restaurants, Randy Crouse, said he noticed the scene Wednesday morning. “Normally I just drive to the back door, but then something caught my eye that something didn’t look right,” Crouse said. “So I drove around and saw that the window had been caved in, smashed in, so at that time I just called Y-P-D we just saw that someone had entered the building broke into our cash box and pilfered our bar area and the office.” Crouse said the biggest loss that resulted from the break-in was having to close the business for the day. “The overall cost is really the lack of income we could’ve made because we had to close for half a day,” Crouse said. “Three of our employees didn’t come into work so they lost out on money and two of them are waitresses that rely on tips. So that’s a lot for money for my employees to miss out, not just us.” Y-P-D said the other businesses that were vandalized included the 99 Cent store and Acme Pool and Spa on 4th Avenue. Although authorities are investigating the crime, all three robberies might be associated with the same suspect. “Hopefully this doesn’t happen to anymore businesses,” Crouse said. “And if it does, they catch whoever’s doing it, so they can have a Merry Christmas someplace they don’t want to be at.”