Pazzo's Pizza in Scripps Ranch burglarized

Pazzo’s Pizza has been a staple in the Scripps Ranch neighborhood for more than 30 years. In the early morning hours on Saturday, two suspects were seen on surveillance video breaking into the business, and running in to grab anything they could find.

David Vitale, the owner of Pazzo’s Pizza along Scripps Trail, said while the burglary wasn’t a major blow to his business, it’s not the first time this has happened.

In 2015, NBC 7 reported on a string of burglaries that took place between 2013 through July of 2015. The business was burglarized a total of 9 times over the span of two years. Those burglaries were also caught on surveillance video. The burglars were ultimately arrested and later convicted.

Vitale hopes that this time around, things will play out the same.

“No one got hurt, and that’s the most important thing and it was minor damage, so I’m very blessed on that situation,” said Vitale.

One of the doors of Pazzo’s Pizza has visible marks from a forced entry. Surveillance video shows two men driving a Toyota Highlander casing the business around 3 in the morning on Saturday. Vitale said they stole an electronic register with an empty cash drawer, as well as three tablets that are used solely for food delivery services like DoorDash and UberEats.

“They didn’t get any cash, it was actually a stupid burglary,” said Vitale. “We’re still open, we’re still operating, and blessed for that,” he added.

Vitale has filed a police report with the San Diego Police Department (SDPD). All told, Vitale estimates the losses and damages to be around $4,000. Additionally, because their food delivery tablets were stolen, the business will not be able to do deliveries for about a week until the tablets can be replaced.

Dozens of regular customers were eating at Pazzo’s Pizza on Saturday, and many were surprised to hear of the break-in.

“We were here last night. We had our son here, we had a pizza party with friends,” said Melissa Heck, who lives in the Scripps Ranch neighborhood.

“Heartbreaking, honestly. Kind of shocked. It’s just sad, this is a good place, Dave, the owner, he’s amazing. Everybody that works here, they’re all amazing people. It’s really unfortunate,” said Heck.

For now it’s business as usual at Pazzo’s Pizza, as Vitale and community members hope that the suspects are taken into custody. Vitale is offering a $1,000 reward for anyone with information that leads to an arrest and conviction.