Cameras catch Bridgeport burglar during late-night robbery

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. (WABC) -- Police in Bridgeport, Connecticut, are asking for the public's help in identifying a burglary suspect caught on tape.

Detectives say the man broke into a commercial business on Wednesday. The Express Mobile at 509 East Main Street was burglarized overnight, twice.

It is some of the clearest surveillance video we've seen. Last Wednesday a burglar broke in to the Mobile Express on East Main Street in Bridgeport just after midnight and then again four hours later.

He got away with more than two dozen smart phones and tablets valued at $3,200.

"It's just not the whole point, the robbery. It's what he took from me. He took a lot from the store and just to recover from that, that's going to take a while," said Jesse Velez, the store owner.

In the video you can see a police car, with lights flashing, rush past the store while the burglar is inside.

Adding to the frustration, the store also has a motion detector.

But for some unexplained reason, the system did not detect the robber during the midnight break-in, but worked perfectly at 4 a.m. It alerted police.

The cops arrived five minutes later, but by then the suspect was gone.

"I thought my dream would be I'd be running a business, selling phones just being happy every day, coming to work, not taking a phone call at 4:00 in the morning saying you were burglarized twice in one night," Velez said.

Juan Burgos runs a convenience store just a few doors away.

"We wonder who is going to be next, because this is difficult, because I work here with my wife and my kids," said Juan Burgos, a merchant.

The 27-year-old Velez told Eyewitness News police already have a lead on the identity of the burglar.

As for the future of his business, that's still up in the air.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Detective Joseph Badolato at 203-581-5241.