Police: Homes of Chinese restaurant owners targeted in statewide string of burglaries

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - The homes of Chinese restaurant owners are being targeted in a string of burglaries across the state, Pennsylvania State Police warned on Monday. 

Police said to date, the alleged burglars have stolen over $1 million in cash and items from the homes of Asian American restaurant owners. 

Investigators believe the burglars watch the houses they target to determine when the homes will be empty and usually disguise themselves, sometimes by wearing yellow safety vets or posing as landscapers. The burglars often get in and out within 30 minutes or less, police said. 

Pennsylvania State Police Commissioner Colonel Robert Evanchick said many of the burglaries have happened in the northeastern part of the state but have been reported statewide. 

Evanchick said police want business owners to be aware of the burglaries and take preventive measures like securing cash and valuables, watching for people and vehicles not usually in their neighborhood, installing motion sensor lights at home and keeping vehicles locked to protect registration information. 

Last year, police said federal prosecutors indicted eight people accused of running a residential burglary ring targeting business owners, usually of Asian family-owned restaurants. The group allegedly carried out multiple home burglaries in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York and Delaware. 

In those cases, police said the burglars learned where the restaurant owners lived by getting into their cars and looking for registration cards, installing makeshift tracking devices on their vehicles or following them home from work.