The Green Line Cafe located at 43rd and Baltimore was broken into and burglarized over the weekend, according to police. The burglar or burglars smashed the front window with a brick and stole a cash register. The burglary happened some time between Friday at 11:30 p.m. and Saturday morning at around 8:30 a.m.

The cash register contained approximately $300, according to a police report.

In August, West Philly Local reported about similar break-ins at Pho & Cafe Saigon and RX the Farmacy. In both of these cases, a brick was used to smash the front door or windows and cash was stolen. Police are still investigating those.

Unfortunately, there has been another breaking and entering incident near 50th street. We reported yesterday about the home invasion on 50th street between Walnut and Locust (read more here), when three armed men wearing masks broke into a home on Tuesday early morning, tied up four people – a man and three women – and stole cash, computers and a car.

A West Philly Local reader reports that her house located on Cedar Avenue between 50th and 51st streets was broken into on Monday night, sometime before midnight, when no one was home. She says that windows were opened with a crowbar and the whole house was ransacked – the thief went through everyone’s drawers and closets.

Two bikes (a green trek hybrid with cruiser handlebars, and a no name road bike with gold and leopard paint) and two computers were stolen (one desktop iMac, one white PowerBook).

According to police, this burglary and the home invasion, which was a targeted attack, are not related.

UPDATE (7:50 p.m.): Police confirmed the break-in at Pho & Cafe Saigon and said that the incident has been classified as a burglary. The suspect or suspects took $50 from the register, police said. They broke out the side window with a brick.

Earlier: We have received a report of an apparent break-in at Pho & Cafe Saigon, a Vietnamese restaurant at 43rd and Spruce Streets, Monday morning. A neighbor, Helen, reports that someone tried to use a brick to smash the front door of the restaurant and another neighbor reportedly heard car crashing noises some time between 3 a.m. and 4 a.m. The photos below show the restaurant door damaged and one of the windows smashed open. Helen says that she called the police at 8:30 a.m. We are trying to get more details.

Photos by Helen Hong.

A West Philly Local reader, who asked us not to use her name, was robbed last night and wanted to alert other neighbors about the incident that happened around 3 a.m. at her place near 49th and Walnut. The reader has recently moved to the area.

She says that the burglar, described as a tall dark skinned man wearing a black muscle t-shirt, jeans and black sneakers with orange soles, appeared in her kitchen (she lives in a row house) and took cash and a bag where her roommate kept all of her money and cards in. The burglar reportedly climbed through the kitchen window. He threw the contents of the bag, including credit cards, behind the U-Haul center at 48th and Chestnut, the reader writes. A good Samaritan found it with a receipt with her roommate’s number on it and returned it. The reader and her roommate reported the incident to the police. The burglar wasn’t armed and no one was injured.

The reader says that her friend was also staying at her place last night and witnessed the burglary. She writes:

“It was weird because [the burglar] actually told our friend “Hi” and took our money in front of her and walked out of the back door. We didn’t find out until this morning because she thought he might be a friend of ours. We just moved to the state and don’t know many people…”

Image via Crimereports.com.

There have been reports of multiple robberies and burglaries west of 43rd street, as the annual summer spike in street crime continues. Readers asked us about an increase in late night/early morning robberies and police confirmed that there were six gun point robberies over the past month in the area from 43rd to 48th, Pine Street to Chester Avenue.

There have also been many burglaries in the area in the recent weeks (see map image for robberies and burglaries in the past month). One of the reasons for that is that people leave their windows open in the summer, according to police, so please make sure to close your windows before leaving the house.

As it’s not unusual to see an uptick in crime during summer months it is still of concern, Joe Murray of the Southwest Police Detectives said in an email. We’ll keep a close look on the crime situation in the area and post updates when we have them.

Burglary reports in the past 30 days (3/24/13-4/23/13).

The latest University City Crime Update, a monthly email distributed by the University City District, shows a significant increase in residential burglaries in the area in April. There were over 20 burglaries in the past 30 days in the area, most of them reported in Spruce Hill, Walnut Hill, and Kingsessing, according to Crime Reports.

The UCD calls for extra caution and asks residents to consider various anti-burglary measures, including locking all exterior doors at all times, investing in more secure locks, using light switch timers to simulate occupancy, and asking a trusted neighbor to watch your property when you are away.

Please also apply caution when walking outside and using your cell phone, since there have been a series of phone robberies in the area. Here are some most recent reports of muggings:

Robbery reports in the past 30 days (3/24/13-4/23/13). Images from CrimeReports.com

• On Monday, April 15, a 29-year-old man was robbed at gunpoint by two men on the 4400 block of Osage Avenue, at approximately 9 p.m., according to police. The man’s phone was taken in the robbery.

• On Tuesday, April 16, a 23-year-old woman was robbed on the 4300 block of Baltimore Avenue. This incident happened in the morning, shortly before 9 a.m. The robbers took her phone, police said. The woman ran after the guys and one said to the other “Shoot her,” but no gun was seen. Police were called and were able to catch one of the robbers, a 21-year-old man, at 46th and Baltimore. The second robber was not apprehended.

• On Thursday, April 18, approximately at 11 a.m., a 20-year-old female was robbed by two men after being put in a choke hold, police said. The incident happened on the 4300 block of Pine Street. University City bike cops caught both robbers, an 18-year-old and a 15-year-old.