Three stores hit in early morning on Riverdale Avenue

Three Riverdale Avenue businesses were burglarized in the early hours last Friday.

Mamajuana Prime Cafe, Riverdale Gourmet Deli and Studio Delaj were the targets of the burglaries that apparently occurred around 5:45 a.m. and involved air ducts and a hole in the basement connecting the businesses.

“At about 5:45 a.m. an alarm went off,” Sokol Delaj, the owner of Studio Delaj, told The Riverdale Press. “I came here.”

Police arrived at the scene at roughly 8:30 a.m. following numerous 911 calls from employees and owners who discovered thefts in their stores. A preliminary investigation revealed that two men entered Mamajuana Prime Cafe through an air duct, then entered Riverdale Gourmet Deli and Studio Delaj through basement doors, police said.

Several employees told The Press the robbers were able to enter the businesses by making a hole in the basement’s wall. Either way the business employees and owners were understandably left sad, scared and disgusted with what occurred.

Mamajuana Prime Cafe was closed temporarily for remodeling and renovations. That didn’t stop the burglars from picking it for the crime and stealing cash from two registers, according to a 911 caller.

Shamson, a Riverdale Gourmet Deli employee, told The Press that cash from the ATM was stolen. Studio Delaj had not observed the theft, according to Delaj. There have yet to be any arrests.