Balmain’s Berlin Bakr cafe owner Sen Cheng burst to tears after raiding a store
Café owner is moved to tears after her business was raided, vandalized and a charity tin stolen – before her local community does something incredible
- Café owner was shocked after Balmain store was looted
- Sen Cheng says the community is behind her
- CCTV footage shows that a thief broke into the store on Monday
A local community has quickly rallied behind a popular cafe owner after her shop was looted in the early hours of the morning.
Sen Cheng, the owner of Balmain’s Berlin Bakr cafe in Sydney’s inner west, arrived at work Monday to find her shop smashed up and the charity tin and cash register stolen.
CCTV footage from the store shows the burglar smashing the front door and stealing money before fleeing at around 4am.
The crook remains on the run as NSW Police investigate the crime.
While the store was left in disarray, locals gathered throughout Monday to get Ms. Cheng back on her feet, clean up the mess and work to fix the door and get the store back up and running.
A cafe in the posh suburb of Balmain has been ransacked with hundreds of dollars stolen – before the local community rallied behind popular shop owner Sen Cheng (pictured), sending the shop owner to tears
When locals showed up for their morning coffee, they were stunned to find the store had been targeted, saying the workers are “such pretty girls.”
“This is our cafe, as soon as we heard we were showing up,” said one resident.
Ms Cheng told 7News, “I can’t believe it happened to my store.”
She said the outpouring of support from the community left her emotional and she felt blessed that the community was taking care of them.
Berlin Bakr sustained $1,200 in damage and lost a day’s trade from the robbery, but was back up and running by Tuesday morning.
Ms. Cheng, the owner of Balmain’s Berlin Bakr café, turned up on Monday to find that her shop had been smashed and a charity tin and cash register stolen, leaving the owner with a $1,200 repair bill (Photo: Berlin Bakr)
CCTV footage shows the burglar smashing the cafe’s front door and stealing hundreds of dollars before fleeing at around 4am. The crook remains on the run as NSW Police investigate the crime
“We get so much love and support from our customers,” said Ms. Cheng.
“This gets me up at 5 a.m. to serve the community.”
The posh café’s Facebook page is filled with five-star reviews, many citing its excellent service and coffee.
NSW Police are continuing to investigate the incident and anyone with information is urged to contact police.