CLEVELAND — A Downtown Cleveland store owner is finally getting some relief after repeatedly being robbed.
Patel says that on Jan. 30, an employee spotted a regular come in, and the employee alerted a Cleveland Police sergeant who was also in the store.Four weeks earlier, News 5 Investigators spoke with Patel about a rash of alcohol robberies and thefts. Police records show Cleveland officers were providing special attention to the area around City Foods because shoplifting and robberies had been happening for months.Ed Eckart, senior vice president of Operations for Downtown Cleveland, Inc., was aware of City Foods's issues."Oftentimes, people look at these like, well, there were no real victims, right? But for a business to thrive in a downtown environment, the very basic thing people need is to feel safe,” Eckart said.