BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB)- There was an unfortunate surprise waiting for two North Buffalo business owners at their restaurant this weekend. Someone took off with the patio railings at Belsito.
Christine and Michael Petrillo told News 4 they’re baffled.
“They had to bring the right equipment and look professional,” said Michael Petrillo. “It’s just a puzzle, I don’t understand it.”
They went to their restaurant on Saturday to take the patio railings down for the winter but someone had already done it.
They called their landlord, and family members, to see who helped them out. No one knew, so they asked the contractor working upstairs if he saw anything.
“He said he saw a man removing it at about 8:00 a.m.,” said Michael Petrillo. “He was driving a maroon pickup truck and he was using power tools and took all of the equipment, all of the railings, all of the parts, put it in his pickup truck and left with it.”
Petrillo said removing the railings isn’t easy because each post has to be unscrewed from the concrete.
Two of their friends, who don’t know each other, both told the couple they saw it happen. They both thought the thief was hired help.
“My initial reaction was just utter tears,” said Christine Petrillo.
Her uncle made the six wooden posts in his North Carolina wood shop and gave them to the couple as a congratulatory gift when they opened Belsito.
“That wood shop is no longer in existence so these poles can never be recreated,” she said. “The wood posts had sentimental value to me.”
The couple told News 4 it all cost about $2,000-3,000. They’ve posted signs asking “Have you seen me?” hoping someone will spot the patio and give them a call.
Buffalo Police are investigating the crime.
The restaurant owners said Tuesday marks the third anniversary of Belsito’s opening on Hertel Ave.
