Tulsa Restaurant Owner Offers Reward After Break-In

A Tulsa business owner is offering a reward for anyone who can help her find the person who broke into her restaurant.

The man busted through the front door at Desi Wok last Monday morning. She may be the victim of a serial robber.

It's business as usual at Desi Wok near 41st and Interstate 44. The cooks are preparing the day's food, but owner Labrena Shamsi's thoughts are still in last week.

"They came in through the bottom part of this door," said Labrena Shamsi, Desi Wok owner.

The surveillance video shows it all. The burglar came in through the front door and made a beeline for the cash register.

He knocked it over then took off with the cash drawer. He threw it outside then came back for the second register and did the same thing.

The robber's his mouth was covered and he was wearing a hoodie.

Shamsi's had a TV and some beer stolen before, but there's something very different about last week's burglary.

"Very strange feeling," she said. "It's just, you know, you're going along day by day and then this happens and I'm thinking, ‘Really? Not again.'"

The break-in at Desi Wok is eerily similar to three other burglaries in Tulsa last week. The French Hen at 71st and Yale, Fancy Nails at 81st and Yale, and Papa John's at 51st and Harvard were all burglarized last Monday morning.

1/11/12 Related Story: Tulsa Business Owners On Edge After String Of Burglaries

In each case the bad guy broke through the glass at the front door, but only one store had money stolen.

"Upset - kind of feel violated," said Desi Wok owner Labrena Shamsi. "I mean, why would they do this?"

Shamsi has poured her heart and soul into her restaurant since opening it five years ago. She's not worried about replacing the damaged items. It's just the thought that whoever broke her restaurant violated an important trust.

"I mean this is my home, and I just feel like he intruded and took things that belonged to me," she said. "I'm fortunate that it didn't happen while the employees were here, while I was here."

Shamsi is offering a reward of $500 for information that leads to an arrest and conviction. Anyone who can help is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 918-596-COPS.