Windsor police are investigating a brazen break-and-enter at a west-end business early Monday morning. Police say officers responded shortly after 4 a.m. to a business in the 600 block of Wellington Avenue. Investigators found significant damage to the property. The case has been assigned to the service’s Target Base Unit, and police aren’t releasing further details at this time. Muayad Abualhayj, owner of Ugarit Market, says surveillance video showed a group of seven or eight suspects forcing their way into his business and making off with two safes. “They have all the tools, they’ll have all the machine, all the equipment, they park to the main door, they came in, they stole one of the safe at the exchange money we have and there’s all one of the safe in the back,” Abualhayj said. Abualhayj believes the theft was planned and suggests someone familiar with the business may have known where the safes were located. He estimates nearly $200,000 was taken from the two safes. “They’re smart. They came in and a Friday through Sunday where there is no bank, you know, deposit the money, you know, 1st of the month. We have a lot of specials going on and they hit us in a Monday morning 4 a.m. before even we get here. So it’s been a planning,” Abualhayj said. Abualhayj says he’s frustrated by the response time from police. “We upset. We hurt. We’re feeling bad, you know, but that’s what happened. I think the police doing their investigation, but still, I cannot believe it took the police over 25 minutes to to get here after the alarm. If you drive from my store to the downtown police station, it took me six minutes, and it took them over 25 minutes to come here,” Abualhayj said. Abualhayj says the market moved into the Wellington Avenue location about four months ago and employs more than 50 people. He hopes investigators can identify those responsible and is offering Anyone with information is asked to contact Windsor police.
