Man sought in Tarrant County restaurant robberies

Similar break-ins at restaurants in Fort Worth and Haltom City have police wondering if the same man is responsible. The expensive damage left behind has one of the owners considering closing up shop and moving.

Enchiladas Ole, a family-owned restaurant in Fort Worth, was broken into over the weekend.

Police think the same man that broke into Enchiladas Ole did the same thing at El Paisa Restaurant in Haltom City, just five minutes away.

The man who burglarized the restaurants is bold and apparently not worried if he's recognized.

Ryan Perez, the Fort Worth restaurant owner’s son, says the family-owned business cannot afford this kind of loss. The burglar stole less than $20 but nearly $6,000 in damage.

"He just goes around hitting businesses like that,” said Ryan. “Everybody works hard trying to make a living. This is our business. This is our life."

Surveillance images show what appears to be the same man breaking into both of the restaurants.

Both break-ins happened sometime after 2 a.m. on Saturday.

"After this happens, every night, you lay awake thinking when is it going to happen again?” said Enchiladas Ole owner, Mary Perez.

It's a real worry. It's the sixth break-in at Mary’s restaurant since it opened three and a half years ago near downtown Fort Worth.

"We are in a tough location. This part of town is tough for us. We're not on restaurant row,” explained Mary. "You're where you think you can pay the rent and survive and make a good living."

In the video, the suspect is seen driving up in a white pickup. It has a metal style cage over the bed.

In both cases, the suspect gets in by breaking the front door glass. He goes for the cash registers, which are empty, and then into the office looking for money. He doesn't seem to care that he's on video. If he'd look up at the monitor, he'd know.

The images on the video have convinced Mary she needs to move but won't go far. She says she knows where her friends are.

"We had neighbor from Oakhurst with hammers, plywood and brooms to pick up the glass,” she said. “We had tremendous amounts of support from customers and people in the neighborhood."

Mary says she thinks it's a different person each time they have a break-in. Of the six break-ins, only one has been caught. Police say people have called in clues on the latest break-ins, but no arrest so far.