Video: Round Rock business gets broken into 24 hours before soft opening
ROUND ROCK, Texas - A Round Rock area business was broken into just a day before it was scheduled to open.
Jerel Booker is the owner of the Snack Room in Round Rock and has been looking forward to opening his own business for a long time. “I'm an entrepreneur by design, and I think ice cream and popcorn are great for kids and families and I thought I want to bring that to Round Rock,” said Booker.
For months, he's been prepping for the opening of Snack Room and collecting inventory for an endless list of treats. ”We sell ice cream, shakes, hot tea, hot chocolate, hot ciders, as well as about 40 different flavors of gourmet popcorn, but the beauty of it is we also have spiked flavors of shakes, ice cream, and tea,” said Booker.
The day before the Snack Room was scheduled to open, Booker received some not-so-sweet news. Snack Room, located at 1400 E Old Settlers Blvd, was broken into around 5:35 a.m. on Sunday morning.
Booker's cameras caught the whole thing on his security cameras: three suspects dressed in dark clothing who attempted to search for money. The trespassers ended up empty-handed.
"I imagine they left frustrated since we do not keep cash on the premises. This is very disappointing and troubling. We understand times are tough, but we are hiring….they didn’t have to steal to get cash," Snack Room's official Facebook posted.
“Since we haven't opened yet, they went back out the same way they came in,” said Booker.
They may have walked away from the Snack Room with nothing, but that same morning, they broke into three other businesses. The burglars getting away with money and other belongings.
“It's a violation. Violation personally on my family, on restaurant, and also the community. I live in Round Rock. My family, kids go to school in Round Rock and it hurts to know that people are just knocking in windows and taking people's belongings and taking things that aren't theirs,” he said.
Round Rock Police is investigating the break-ins.
Snack Room will be moving their soft opening to Thursday, February 13.