Cobb County

Police say crawling burglar tied to at least 12 restaurant break-ins

COBB COUNTY, Ga. — Police have arrested a burglar they say crawled through dozens of metro Atlanta restaurants to steal from them.

Channel 2′s Tom Regan was in Cobb County, where police said Aron Major, 47, hit several restaurants during a months-long crime spree, using stealthy tactics to avoid tripping security motion sensors.

Surveillance footage shows the moments Major broke into Guston’s restaurant in the early morning hours of Feb. 24.

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Robert Taylor, the restaurant’s general manger and head chef, said he was stunned to see footage of Major punching out a pane of glass and shimmying along the floor.

“It was a bit of a shock,” Taylor said. “He took the safe and all the belongings in the safe.”

Taylor guesses that Major visited the restaurant ahead of time to plan the burglary.

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“When you look at the video, it seemed he knew exactly where to go and what to do as far as making his moves and crawling to get to the office,” Major said.

Sgt. Wayne Delk with Cobb Police said they have a dozen cases in the county, but that could go up. Major’s crime spree came to an end earlier this month when a license plate reader tagged him on the highway.

He was arrested on June 1.

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“Because of that, we got a lot of evidence,” Delk said.

Taylor said they’ve bolted their safe to the floor and are taking other steps to burglar-proof the restaurant.

“We have since installed motion sensors lower to the floor and have more triggers on the doors and windows,” Taylor said.

Major has also been accused of burglaries at the Wing Cafe and Tap House in Roswell, the General Bookstore, Huey Luey’s, Laredo’s Mexican Restaurant, Jason’s Deli, Chipotle and Mellow Mushroom.

Major is being held without bond at the Cobb County jail.