Cottle said he thought the same group had hit the cafe multiple times.
“The M-O is the same, how they’ve gotten in, and what they’ve done, and how they’ve gone about it, they’ve built on the previous things so we’re pretty sure it is the same people,” he said.
“We got some footage, it was sort of three people, it’s 3am, and they’re pretty efficient in how they went about it.”
Crave was a social enterprise, and Cottle said it was committed to the neighbourhood.
“We’re a neighbourhood cafe, we give all our profits back into the neighbourhood, and we like to believe the best in people,” Cottle said.
“How do we make the world a better place to live, how do we make our neighbourhood of Morningside a better place to live, that’s our core mission.”
Cottle said Crave operated on a high trust model, but knew that some people may abuse that trust.
“After the first robbery, it’s like ‘that’s okay, some people are desperate, and it’s a difficult time’,” he said.
“But there’s a sense now that, after four break-ins, it’s like abuse as opposed to just opportunity.”