A man in a hoodie and blue bandana smashed his way into three small businesses in Dallas's Bishop Arts District within hours, and surveillance video shared by two of the owners shows what appears to be the same suspect moving between storefronts before dawn. The break-ins hit Mentiiras, Wayward Coffee Co. and Outpost Fine Goods, leaving at least one shop owner out hundreds of dollars in repairs and no closer to knowing who did it.
According to FOX 4 News, the Dallas Police Department is investigating the recent burglaries at several small businesses in the district, and suspects remain at large. Police said anyone with information about the suspects should contact the department. The Dallas Police Department was called to a business in the 400 block of North Tyler Street, and per WFAA, officers also responded on Sept. 4 to the 1300 block of West Davis Street, opening separate, ongoing investigations for both scenes.
Same Suspect, Two Storefronts, Hours Apart
Mentiiras owner Luis Martinez and Wayward Coffee owner Caroline Irby compared their surveillance footage side by side and found the same suspect description in both early-morning break-ins on Sept. 4: a hoodie and a blue bandana covering his face, according to the same WFAA report. Security camera video shows one suspect smashing through Mentiiras's front door to take cash from the register, while another suspect is seen on camera taking sodas and snacks, per FOX 4. Martinez shared the footage on Instagram, and Mentiiras was hit twice that night — first when someone broke the glass front door with a rock around 2:30 a.m. to steal register cash, then again roughly two hours later, when a second individual crawled through the still-broken door to grab food and drinks, the station's report notes.
Wayward Coffee and Outpost Fine Goods were also hit by the burglaries, the FOX 4 report states. Outpost Fine Goods, located at 1320 West Davis Street, is owned and operated by Irby and her partners, who also run the adjacent Wayward Coffee Co. next door at 1318 West Davis, according to Le Sol — a detail that helps explain why both storefronts were targeted in sequence.
A Teenage Owner's $600 Repair Bill
Martinez opened his 200-square-foot snack shop in 2023 at age 18 with just $500 in startup capital, and he ended up paying $600 out of pocket to fix the shattered front door after the Sept. 4 burglary, the same WFAA account states. He told the station his mother had just restocked the refrigerator and made it look nice for customers, and he said he was upset that a suspect was burglarizing businesses in the area. Neither Mentiiras nor Wayward Coffee kept their main daily earnings in cash registers overnight, limiting what was stolen to small change set aside for the next day's opening, per the same report — a reminder that the physical damage from a break-in can outweigh the cash actually taken.
What Charges Suspects Could Face
Under Texas Penal Code § 30.02, breaking into a commercial building without consent to commit theft is charged as Burglary of a Building, a state jail felony carrying 180 days to two years in a state jail facility and a fine up to $10,000, according to Brian Foley Law. That statute treats commercial burglary differently than burglary of a home, though identifying a masked suspect who strikes in the early morning hours remains a challenge for investigators.
The break-ins fit a broader pattern in Dallas, where property crimes make up 65% of all business-related incidents citywide, and 70% of commercial burglaries occur after hours between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m., per Twin City Security. The Dallas Police Department also runs a citywide Business Crime Watch initiative in high-density retail corridors like Bishop Arts, encouraging merchants to share video surveillance and post business watch decals. Real estate and neighborhood safety reports for 2026 note that while Bishop Arts remains one of Dallas's safest walkable commercial hubs, its dense concentration of dining and retail draws opportunistic property crime spikes tied to heavy foot traffic and evening nightlife, according to Dyme Earth.
The burglaries come months after Hoodline reported on a deadly shooting near Bishop Arts nightlife that fueled merchant calls for heavier police patrols in the district, per Hoodline. For now, Martinez and his fellow shop owners are left comparing footage and hoping the video they've pieced together helps investigators track down whoever is responsible before another storefront gets hit.
