Astoria's Pochana Thai Kitchen Burglarized: Police

ASTORIA, QUEENS — A burglar broke into the Astoria restaurant Pochana this weekend, and the family who owns the Thai eatery says theirs is not the only local business to experience a recent break-in.

The burglar got into the restaurant overnight Friday by breaking a back window and busting through a layer of sheetrock to climb into the employee bathroom — an opening that Pochana's owners didn't know existed, according to their daughter, Natt Garun.

Inside, the burglar broke open the restaurant's cash register and stole $400, according to the police.

Garun said her parents, who have been running the restaurant since 2001, suspected the burglar surveilled the neighborhood beforehand.

"They seemed to know exactly how to get in and what time we were out of the restaurant," she said.

Police said a similar break-in played out the day before at Sushi X, a restaurant on Northern Boulevard near the border of Astoria and Woodside.

A burglar got into the sushi spot Friday morning by breaking through a front window, then made off with $5,000 cash and a pair of Apple AirPods, police said.

The next day, police arrested 56-year-old William Serafin on a burglary charge. No one has been arrested yet in connection with the Pochana break-in.

Garun said Astoria residents can support Pochana by ordering from the restaurant, and she urged other local business owners to be on high alert.

"We just really want our customers to keep supporting us and amplify the message that this is happening in our neighborhood, and they need to be careful," she said.

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