It seems like it would be a fairly well known rule among burglars -- if you are stealing from a place that likely has surveillance cameras, cover your face.

Cobb County police say one man apparently forgot the rule when he and a friend pulled a smash-and-grab at a Mableton area liquor store. Now, investigators hope his mistake helps them crack the case.

In all, police say seven businesses and one church around Mableton have been broken into in the past eight days. Police said they now wonder if the same two men are responsible for all of them.

At Top Shelf Liquors on Floyd Road, the owner’s father, Fred Leonelli, said the family has taken precautions for daytime robberies for a while, but now are making adjustments for after-hours break-ins after the two thieves threw a rock through the front door last week and ran away with a bottle of booze, cigarettes, cigars and some cash.

"It's a challenge when people come through and decide to take what they want," Leonelli said.

Leonelli said that in the video it almost appears as though one of the men was posing for a mug shot.

Police still do not know who the two men are and hope someone from the public will help out.

The same night, the same type of crime occurred just a few storefronts down at Janice Zheng's Chinese restaurant.

She said it's the first time in nine years the Star East Chinese Restaurant has had any trouble.

"The glass door is broken, my cash register is out, cash it out and some coins on the floor. It's terrible." Zheng said.

Police are trying to find a link to all the crimes.
 
"It's uncommon to have that many in a three day period back-to-back in that close of a proximity," Cobb County Officer Mike Bowman said.