THE manager of a Lavington takeaway has been left frustrated and fearing for the safety of her staff after their shop was broken into for the second time in two weeks.
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Thieves broke into the Country Chicken Stop on Urana Road in the early hours of Sunday morning.
They used a brick to smash the office window of the business, taking an iPad belonging to the store’s manager, Rana Zakhour.
Mrs Zakhour’s daughter is deaf and uses the iPad to communicate at school.
Last weekend, thieves broke into the store through the back door, stealing the shop’s cash register.
After that incident, the till has been left open and empty each night in a bid to deter thieves, as well as a sign reading ‘No cash held on premises’.
“Last week and this week – it’s just annoying,” Mrs Zakhour said.
“I’m still trying to figure out if they went any further into the shop than the office.
“They took my daughter’s iPad, she’s deaf, so she uses it at school for her speech.
“She’s only 10.
“I don’t care about all of this damage – just seeing it happen twice is scary.”
The theft of the iPad has left employees fuming.
While the cost of having the window replaced will be covered by insurance, the peace of mind of the store’s employees is another matter.
Mrs Zakhour said it was difficult to come to work when the business had been so brazenly targeted.
“It frightens us when we come to work,” she said.
“We hate being here now.
“We’re insured, fixing the glass is no problem, but it’s the principle.
“We work hard, we should be able to feel safe at work.”
The senseless nature of the break-in was what really bothered the hard-working Mrs Zakhour.
“There’s no need for anyone to break into any business, whether it’s our shop or someone else’s – it’s unnecessary,” she said.
“Why are people doing this?
“We’ve not hurt anyone, we’ve never done anything bad to anyone, we just come to work everyday.
“Ultimately, the insurance will only cover so much.
“We’ll need bars or something on the window – why should we have to go to that cost.
“We don’t want our business looking like a jailhouse.
“It’s just hard.
“I really don’t get it – why do something like this and make people’s lives even more difficult than they already are?”
The Lavington business has been operating for more than nine years.
Last week’s break-in wound up costing the business more than $10,000 when the till was stolen.
The front door also needed to be replaced.
