By Hope Dean and Asia Wilson, Atlanta News First

ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) — Three restaurants in downtown Decatur were targeted by thieves last weekend, the city’s police department said.

Decaturish first reported the news, and our media partner Atlanta News First obtained surveillance footage of the suspects.

Near 5:30 a.m. on Saturday, officers were called to at least two of the stores after their commercial burglary alarms went off. The thieves shattered glass windows to get into a neighboring American Deli and Rebel Teahouse off E Ponce de Leon Avenue, police said. They also broke into a Dairy Queen off E Trinity Place, about a quarter mile south of the other two businesses.

Security footage from Rebel Teahouse shows two people dressed in black breaking through the store’s front glass door. They vaulted over the service counter, appearing to take large wads of cash from a safe before running away through the front door. The entire operation took a little over a minute.

Christine Nguyen, the owner of Rebel Teahouse, said watching the video was heartbreaking. She decided the store will be now cashless after the thieves got away with about $500.

“I think investing your time in something better, like running track or training for the Olympics, might be a little bit better, because they were very fast,” she said. “I wish that people would realize that there are other ways to be able to make money rather than just taking it from others.”

This isn’t Decatur’s first rash of thefts. In January, police said thieves broke into eight businesses and stole cash from the registers. In March, a husband-wife team who opened a new restaurant off North Decatur Road said someone took off with their expensive custom grill.

Nguyen added that the American Deli had also been broken into about eight months before.

Police said the thefts are still under investigation. They ask anyone with information about the case to contact the Decatur Police Department at (404) 373-6551 or Crime Stoppers Atlanta at (404) 577-8477 to remain anonymous.

Decaturish media partner Atlanta News First provided this story.