By LYNETTE HAALAND, Four Points News

The investigation is underway to capture the burglar who broke into three Steiner Ranch businesses — Cup & Cones, Steiner Cleaners and Menchie’s Frozen Yogurt — around 5 a.m. on Sunday morning.

Rick Nordin pulled into Cups & Cones’ side entrance, like he usually does, and was heading into the shop with his arms full around 5 a.m. on Aug. 26. That’s when he looked up and saw the shattered glass door.

Nordin soon realized that the register was gone and more than $700 in cash was taken.

“I just missed the guy,” said Nordin, a River Place resident who owns Cups & Cones with his wife Kristi.

By 5:10, Travis County Sheriff’s Office was there. Soon after, it was discovered Steiner Cleaners was also hit just a few shops down in the shopping center, which is located in the middle of Steiner.

Karl Schulte, River Place resident and owner of Steiner Cleaners, always says Sunday is his favorite day because no one calls him but that was not the case on this Sunday. He said he got up at 4:45 a.m. and finished payroll and then was watching a murder mystery with his wife when he got the call that his Steiner store was broken into.

Even though there is a Lake Travis Fire Rescue station next door, the firefighters on duty did not hear the breaking glass as a thief smashed a hammer through the front door of the cleaners.

They did have a security camera running but they did not have their alarm set that night. The video shows the burglary happened at 5:01 a.m. on Aug. 26.

“They were there there for a minute,” Schulte said.  

The video reveals the burglar had a hammer in one hand and a flashlight as he riffled through drawers. The perpetrator appears to be a man around 6-foot tall and about 120 pounds wearing a black hoodie, mask and black gloves with white tennis shoes.

“It’s disappointing. It costs four times as much to replace the window than what was stolen,” Schulte said.

Steiner Cleaners helped Cups & Cones with change, since they were depleted after their break-in.

Then the third incident happened at about 5:17 a.m. on Sunday when Menchie’s Frozen Yogurt was burglarized. This is located in Quinlan Crossing by Randalls.

Bob Elmer, owner of the Steiner Menchie’s franchise, was called by his security company and got to his shop as quickly as possible. The police were already there.

The burglar smashed through the front door and attempted to take two safes and was unsuccessful, Elmer said.

The video at Menchie’s only shows one person committing the crime and it appeared that their car was parked in the back. It wasn’t clear if there was an accomplice driving the car.

Elmer said Travis County Sheriff’s Office senior deputy Mike Frasher was a huge help. A detective is supposed to contact him in the next day or two to review the ADT Security Services video.

“We’re lucky nobody was hurt and they didn’t take anything,” Elmer said.

By 9:30 a.m. Menchie’s door was replaced. Both Cups & Cones and Steiner Cleaners’ doors were also replaced by the same company. The doors cost around $650 each.  

Schulte thinks the same burglar hit all three businesses and he doesn’t think it was an inside job. Although that was not the case with another of Schulte’s cleaner stores, which was broken into earlier this year in Round Rock. That was done by a disgruntled female employee who ended up getting caught. There was a search warrant for her for something else, and while in her home, the police found the shoes she wore with glass still in them, and then recovered stolen receipts and envelopes in the trash.

Even though not the preferred way to spend a Sunday, Schulte is keeping the crime in perspective: “It’s part of business and I’m not going to let it get to me.”

Nordin at Cups & Cones said they were blessed by people in the community who came by to sweep up glass, help them make the coffee and get the day rolling. In spite of the crime, he’s kept a good attitude. “They can steal my money but they can’t take my attitude.”