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Video: Thief walks through shattered glass door during Richmond break-in

A video posted on Instagram shows the man making several attempts to smash his way into the city centre coffee shop
coffee shop break in
This man smashed his way into the R Ki Coffee Lab on Lansdowne Road in the early hours of Tuesday

A video posted on social media shows a thief making several attempts to break into a Richmond coffee shop, before forcing his body through the shattered glass door.

The persistent suspect – a white male – was caught on CCTV around 1:20 a.m. on Tuesday breaking into the R Ki Coffee Lab on Lansdowne Road, directly opposite Lansdowne Centre.

In the video posted on Instagram, the man can be seen casing the business from outside, taking a look inside the glass front door and looking up and down the street.

He then makes several attempts to smash the door with an object before finally shattering the glass.

The man then forces his way through the shattered door, seemingly with apparently little regard for the shards of glass.

He then spends about 90 seconds or so scouring the café for something valuable before taking off with a few small items when the alarm finally sounds.

Owner says thief left light-handed

Café owner Zhan Feng Chan told the Richmond News that all that was taken was a few coins, an old iPhone and two tablets, one of which was gifted to the store.

“We don’t keep paper money here,” Chan said, adding that he only lives a few minutes away and came to inspect the damage as soon as he got the call from the alarm company.

“This makes me feel terrible.”

He said someone tried and failed to break in before during his two and a half years of running the café, but did recall that a previous owner did suffer a break-and-enter.

Chan said the door will cost about $1,200 to get replaced and that a quote is being sent to the building’s strata manager.