Burglars broke into the Wasatch Brew Pub on Main Street in the overnight hours early in the week, dragged a large safe out of the building but were unsuccessful as they attempted to use a forklift to carry it away, the company that operates the restaurant said.
The case is notable for its brazenness along a street where there is usually at least some people or drivers around at all hours. The break-in was discovered at approximately 7 a.m. on Monday. It occurred sometime between late Sunday night and the discovery.
Doug Hofeling, the chief operating officer at Wasatch Brew Pub owner Salt Lake Brewing Co., said the safe and the forklift were found on the road on Swede Alley close to the building. Hofeling said the safe is normally kept in a secure office inside the Wasatch Brew Pub. The forklift is usually kept inside the building, he said. It is used by staffers to lift pallets of beer kegs.
“It’s unusual to say the least. Very obviously, it was an attempted burglary,” Hofeling said.
Hofeling said it appeared the perpetrators wanted to use the forklift to transport the safe to a vehicle. The forklift, though, became stuck in the gutter. The morning manager at the Wasatch Brew Pub found the safe approximately 20 feet from the stuck forklift, he said. It was just outside a back door to the Wasatch Brew Pub, he said. The safe contained an unspecified amount of cash from weekend sales. The perpetrators did not get into the safe, he said.
The safe is approximately 3 feet tall and weighs several hundred pounds, he said, indicating it is too heavy for one person to lift.
Hofeling said the Wasatch Brew Pub has taken additional precautions in an attempt to prevent a similar case.
“This is utterly unprecedented,” he said.
The Park City Police Department said investigators are following leads and an arrest is probable.