Burglars went to some effort overnight to remove a safe from Neptune's Gardens, 33 Liberty St., Batavia, getting away with more than $2,000 cash.
According to owners Nick and Kathy LaFarnara, the safe was apparently too heavy for the thieves to carry, so they used her office chair to wheel it to a back window.
Nick said it probably took two people to get it out a window and drop it into a pickup truck.
It's the first time during their 25 years in business that it's been burglarized, Nick said.
He's eager to see the perpetrators caught and prosecuted, so LaFarnaras are offering a $250 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the criminals.
Batavia Police Det. Pat Corona said tips can be phoned in confidentially to 345-6370.
Kathy LaFarnara said she was baffled to come into work this morning to find her chair missing from the office and a desk drawer opened with stamps on the floor.
"I'm thinking, 'that's just not right,'" Kathy said.
As she and Nick started to look around, they found a few other things out of place and then spotted her chair near a back window, which was open.
The first thing they checked for were missing pets, but all of the animals were accounted for.
When Nick went back into is office and sat down, that's when he noticed the safe was missing.
Photo courtesy The Batavian's news partner, WBTA. WBTA also has a story available here.
