GRESHAM, Ore. — The owners of two Gresham food carts are counting their losses after a pair of brazen break-ins.
Around 1:30 a.m. Thursday morning, Krista Larsen said a man broke into her business, The Krazy Kokonut food cart at 2280 Northwest Burnside Road in Gresham.
“I noticed a ton of notifications on my phone — it was like it was like, 'Motion detected, motion detected,'” said Larsen. “I was like, ‘Oh no,’ and I already knew.”
Larsen said it was the third time this year her food cart has been broken into.
Security cameras captured the crook stealing cash from the till, as well as Larsen’s work phone which she’d kept unlocked. Later that morning, it became clear to Larsen that the crook had used her phone to transfer around $1,000 to himself.
“I had all these transfer notifications from my PayPal and my Venmo and I was like, 'Oh no, you gotta be kidding me!'” said Krista. “I was so irritated and frustrated.”
A couple of hours earlier, security video showed what appeared to be the same crook, this time accompanied by a woman, breaking into the Bubble Tea & Brews food cart at the same pod.
At one point in the video, the woman grabs a plastic cup and tries to help herself to a beer, only to get splattered in the face. Later, the pair break open the till, steal cash and three computer tablets.
“So my online orders haven't been able to come through,” said cart owner Mike Robinson. “I felt violated because I was still on site working when they came into my cart.”
Robinson, who also owns the food cart pod, had been helping repair a different cart while his was unlocked.
“It seemed like they were watching me walk in and out of the cart, coming and going, and timed it just right to where I wasn't able to see them,” said Robinson. “I have no choice but to just take it on the chin — there's no insurance that'll help.”
The same goes for Larsen.
“Being hit three times in a year, my insurance will drop me,” she said. “For criminals to target small businesses ... we got enough on our plates. We don't need any more problems.”
Larsen said the crook used his name when transferring himself the money and she shared that information with police. Larsen’s friend started a GoFundMe to help Larsen recover some of her losses.
Anyone who recognizes the people in the videos or has information on the case is asked to contact Gresham Police.