Old Town Coffee and Chocolates co-owner Cathy Kunkler takes stock of her depleted coffee reserves

Sometime after closing last night, Old Town Coffee and Chocolates in Eureka was broken into and numerous items were stolen including a commercial coffee grinder, a high end scale for weighing coffee beans, beer and approximately 200 pounds of bagged, roasted coffee beans. Oh, and a dolly which the owners assume was used to transport the items out the back door.  

“They stole our stuff with our own hand truck,” said OTC&C co-owner Gail Mentink. “That’s just salt in the wound.”

When barista Aysha Melendrez arrived to open the shop this morning, she found many things not as they should be. A back door to the building was wide open. Another normally locked door to a room where coffee beans are roasted and stored. Also, a lock on the door of a fridge in the back hallway had been pried off and much beer snagged. (The unsophisticated crook(s) left the wine, though.)  

This fridge was once full of wonderful beer …

… as was this storage room

OTC&C’s other owner, Cathy Kunkler, was still trying to assess how much coffee was taken Thursday morning but guessed it was over $1,000 worth. She called around to local pawn shops to alert them of the break-in in case the burglar(s) tries to sell some the pricier items — she estimated the Bunn coffee grinder’s worth to be around $700.  

Kunkler said she’s still not sure if someone entered through the side door — maybe someone hid in the building until after business hours, she theorized. Either way, OTC&C is taking steps to make their operation more secure in case the pilferer(s) return. If anyone has any information on last night’s crime, obviously call the Eureka Police Department.

These Bunn coffee grinders are similar to the one stolen

Kunkler takes inventory