Wild Flour Cafe and Harvest Moon broken into early Wednesday morning
Dawson Road restaurants are broken into before dawn
By Jon Gosa
ALBANY — Two Dawson Road restaurants — Harvest Moon and Wild Flour Cafe — were burglarized around 4 a.m. Wednesday, Albany Police Department reports say.
Officers responded to an active burglar alarm at Harvest Moon, 2347 Dawson Road, early Wednesday morning and reported discovering evidence of forced entry.
According to owner Bo Henry, the culprit removed a window air-conditioning unit to gain entry and attempted to access a locked office with a screwdriver. The incident, along with the burglar’s image, was caught on several security surveillance cameras.
“When he couldn’t get in to the office with the screwdriver, he went to the dish pit and got a spoon to try and open the door,” said Henry. “I guess that is when he heard the alarm going off and fled, taking the spoon with him.
“That was all he stole from us, a spoon.”
The man left before police arrived.
A short time later and less than a block away at 2206 Dawson Road, the rear door of the Wild Flour Cafe was pried open.
According to owner Sarah Edmonds, the suspect pulled down the security monitor and broke open the cash register, stealing an undisclosed amount of money. The burglar also emptied the unlocked safe of about $20 in rolled coins before fleeing.
Officers from the Albany Police Department began canvassing the area and eventually made contact with a person who matched the suspect’s description, but the individual fled.
Officers remained in the area and later apprehended a suspect.
“Apparently, this guy was already on probation for this type of thing,” said Bo Henry owner of Harvest Moon. “At least, that is what APD officers told me.”
Octavious Bell Jr, age 28, was charged with the Harvest Moon burglary and booked at the Dougherty County Jail Wednesday afternoon, Phyllis Banks, spokeswoman for the APD, said.
No charges had been filed Wednesday in the Wild Flour burglary.
“The police officers did a great job,” Edmonds said. “They were very professional and they caught the guy.”
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