PORTLAND, Ore. — New businesses in Southwest Portland’s Goose Hollow neighborhood are being broken into at what the community calls an alarming rate. The business owners now see it as a “rite of passage” for those who want to work downtown.
Surveillance video shared with KGW shows an early morning break-in at Rush Bowls, a Southwest Portland smoothie and acai bowl shop on Jefferson Street. It took the thief all of 30 seconds to smash the window, pry open the register and run away with $250 in cash. It happened Saturday around 5 a.m., days after the shop's grand opening.
“It was kind of just like a shot to the gut… that really, really hurt because we're trying to do something so good for the community. Feedback's been phenomenal, and then for this yahoo to come in and do that — it broke my spirit for a little bit,” said John Kochis, who spent all his retirement savings on Rush Bowls in an effort to revitalize this part of the city.
“I am believing in the future of Portland,” he said, despite the break in.
Across the street, the owner of Bold Coffee & Books, another new addition to the Goose Hollow neighborhood, estimates their front window that was recently shattered will cost about $1,000 to repair.
“So, our grand opening was this Friday, Saturday, Sunday that just passed, and Friday morning, our staff arrived to a broken window,” said the coffee shop’s co-owner Ali Shaw.
Lucky for them, the thief left empty-handed after hearing the alarm go off and finding no cash left on site.
"We knew this was going to be a risk, not an unheard-of thing happening in Portland right now,” Shaw said.
From January to August of this year, Portland police data indicates there have been 2,881 burglary cases reported citywide, compared to 3,468 during the same period last year.
However, despite the drop in numbers, longtime business owners, like Kevin Shelby at Bellagios Pizza, don’t know how much longer they can take it. He works in the restaurant most days due to the frequent crime.
“We need help. We need more patrolling, more something… because it's going to drive us out of business,” Shelby said.
“We're all saying in the neighborhood, it's kind of a rite of passage, but does that really need to be a rite of passage in Portland? I don't think so,” said Kochis.
No arrests have been made in any of these cases. Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler told KGW he sympathizes with these business owners and says that ensuring safety and security for local businesses remains a top priority for his team. Wheeler encourages these business owners to reach out to Prosper Portland for grant money to help cover repair costs.