SCRANTON, Pa. — John Zelinski has gotten used to walking into an empty bar at Backstreets Tiki Bar and Grille on Jackson Street in Scranton, but when he walked in Monday, he could tell the place wasn't empty overnight.
Someone had raided the bar's gaming machines and swiped liquor bottles from behind the bar.
Zelinski says the burglars did thousands of dollars in damage at a time where making ends meet is already tough.
"It's extremely difficult, especially with all the guidelines and stuff. We're trying to do the right thing; we have the curbside for takeout, which is right now our only source of revenue and income," Zelinski said.
Backstreets only opened back in October. They say a restaurant's first year is the toughest. Zelinski says the pandemic, and now this will make it even more difficult to bounce back.
"A lot of people are out there hurting right now and doing good things for good people. Everybody's trying to get through this. Everybody's got to hold hands and unite and work through this right now, not stab people in the back, and do stuff behind their back like this."
Scranton police are looking at surveillance video of the burglary at Backstreets. Anyone with information about the crime is asked to call police headquarters at (570) 348-4130.