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DENVER (KDVR) — A local liquor store has been burglarized and robbed since the start of the year.

As police search for the brazen thieves, the small business owner is contemplating how much longer he can take the safety risks.

At E&S Liquors on East Yale Avenue, serving customers for 23 years is more than just a job for owner Dawit Beyene.

“This community is everything to us. That’s the one thing I don’t want to quit, no, this is my home,” Beyene said. “I spend more time here than at my home, and I’ve never felt that one day I am coming to work. I felt I’m coming to my home.”

Burglary, robbery the latest crimes in the area

However, lately, a series of crimes at his store has made serving the community he loves a lot harder. Surveillance shared with FOX31 captures a burglary and robbery at E&S Liquors in the first two months of 2023.

On Jan. 4, video captures three masked thieves coming out of an SUV that has at least one getaway driver inside. They use crowbars to break into the store and steal alcohol, cigarettes and more.

A month later, on Feb. 17, owner Beyene was catching up with a loyal customer when three masked and armed robbers burst inside the store pointing guns at them. 

“They drug me out to the aisle, same with the lady,” Beyene said. “They took what we had, money, credit cards, my old driving license, my old passport, all the change that we had, the collection I had since 1923, it’s all gone. They took everything.”

Repeat crimes hit Denver businesses

Police told FOX31 there was another reported burglary at the location in October. Beyene said he’s been hit four times in two years. 

“The cigarette store a few doors down, in the last five years, it was nine times burglary,” Beyene said. “It’s getting tougher and tougher. I don’t know how long we are going to hang in here unless the city, maybe they have to come up with something to protect us.”

The Denver Police Department told FOX31 the case is under investigation and no arrests have been made. Anyone with information is asked to call Metro Denver Crime Stoppers at 720-913-STOP (7867).