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Thieves target delis across the North Fork

BARBARAELLEN KOCH PHOTO
Burlglars smashed the front door at Katrinka Deli in Jamesport with a rock early Saturday, entered the business and stole $1,200 in cash. It was the latest in a string of similar burglaries and attempted burglaries in Riverhead and Southold towns.

A string of smash-and-grab burglaries is putting local eatery owners on high alert. At least six businesses have been targeted across the North Fork in recent weeks.

Katrinka Deli on Main Road in Jamesport was the latest business to report a break-in after someone threw a rock through its front door sometime before 4 a.m. Saturday, Riverhead police said.

Employees at neighboring Lenny’s Pizza and at Handy Pantry in Mattituck also said someone tried to smash their way through their storefronts around the same time, but were unsuccessful.

Katrinka Deli wasn’t as lucky.

After the door there was shattered, burglars took off with more than $1,200 in cash, according to a police report.

At least three other area businesses were victimized in a similar way in recent weeks.

Two Mattituck delis were broken into during the early morning hours of May 13, according to Southold police. The glass front door of the Antique Deli on Route 25 was smashed by a cement block. Cash was stolen from one of the registers but nothing else was out of place, police said. A side window at North Fork Deli across the street was also smashed but nothing was missing, police reported.

About $120 cash and a register were reported stolen from Bagel Lovers Deli on Osborn Avenue in Riverhead at about 5 a.m. on May 26 after someone also broke a side window at the store.

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