Antipasto’s Theft: East San Jose community calls for more police after rise in smash-and-grab robberies

SAN JOSE, Calif. (KGO) — Three break-ins over a three-month period has left a small business in San Jose with big bills to pay to repair the damages, and it’s making it hard to stay open.

The incidents at Antipasto’s are not the only major smash-and-grabs that we’ve seen in San Jose in the last few months, and the community wants to see change.

Since 1987, Antipastos has been an institution in East San Jose. But it’s getting hard for brothers Gino and Nick DeRose to keep the doors open, after the restaurant has been repeatedly smashed in by vehicles.

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“Unfortunately, this is the third time we’ve been broken into within a year,” Nick DeRose said.

“What are they stealing?” ABC7 News South Bay Reporter Dustin Dorsey asked.

“Wine, about eight to 10 bottles of wine off the shelf,” Gino DeRose said.

“So no cash or anything like that, just coming for the wine?” Dorsey said.

“Yeah, and the big windows are expensive, and the big doors are even more expensive,” Gino DeRose said. “And, of course, we’re incurring the expense.”

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What maybe ends up as a few hundred dollars in wine stolen, ends up costing Antipastos around $5,000 to repair.

“It’s frustrating,” Nick DeRose said. “Insurance is not cheap and when you continue to make claims, your bills go up. And for a small business like us, it makes it real difficult to continue to survive.”

And other small businesses are not immune. We reported on the jewelry store robbery that occurred just a few weeks prior to the Antipasto’s incident.

Many in the community want to see more done to prevent these crimes from happening.

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Councilmember Peter Ortiz represents this district. He plans on advocating for better recruitment and a larger budget to bring on more law enforcement officers locally. But he’s calling on the community to do their part as well.

“The number of officers in the east side is directly connected to the number of 911 calls we have on record in this area,” Ortiz said. “Do not hesitate to call. Do not stay silent. The more calls we make, the clearer the picture becomes of what’s happening in our neighborhoods.”

The DeRose family hopes that visibility leads to a curb in crime, so they can continue to serve the people of their community.

“We’re going to continue to do what we do until we don’t want to do it anymore, but we’re not going to let someone make that choice for us,” Nick DeRose said.