2 south Minneapolis coffee shops report thefts

Two coffee shops in south Minneapolis say thieves took items from their establishments on Thursday night. 

Crema Coffee + Cream on the 5000 block of South 34th Avenue said in an Instagram post that they were burglarized and would do their best to be open on Friday. The post showed a photo of what appeared to be a damaged window at the business.

Rick's Coffee Bar, which is 1 mile southeast of Crema, said in a Facebook post that all its cash was taken and a window at its establishment was smashed after a robbery. 

"We are beyond disappointed and saddened that this happened. We were able to get the register working, so Rick's will be CARD ONLY for the foreseeable future since all of our cash was stolen," the post said.

Tom McKenna, the founder of Rick's Coffee Bar, which aims to support veterans, said it appeared from surveillance video that two people took out a window on the patio of the coffee shop. They took about $1,000 worth of cash from the register and from a deposit box in the back room, McKenna said.

"I don't know why they robbed us. I don't know what their situation is, if they would have come and asked us for something we probably would give it to them, but they chose to rob us instead," said McKenna.

Ward 12 City Council member Aurin Chowdhury encouraged neighbors to come support both businesses.

"People in this neighborhood want to support each other," she said.

According to the city's incidents dashboard, police were called to both businesses on Friday between 5:30 a.m. and 6:05 a.m. for reports of burglaries in progress.