Pueblo City Council President’s business burglarized fourth time in two months

PUEBLO, Colo. (KRDO) -- A popular sports bar, owned by Pueblo's City Council President, was burglarized for the fourth time in two months.

Early Monday morning, someone broke into Graham's Grill. Once inside, they took cash deposits from the business. The damage is estimated at thousands of dollars.

"The property damage is what the big cost is, about $1,000 to replace a door," explained Heather Graham, the owner. "This will be the fifth- sixth door that I've had to replace in the last four weeks."

In September, Graham's Grill was burglarized twice in four days. Those since-caught suspects stole bottles of liquor, cash registers, and tablets in a matter of minutes.

According to the Pueblo Police Department, Graham's Grill was burglarized for the third time. That suspect was arrested and then later released.

Graham told 13 Investigates she's now studying a new city ordinance just passed in Aurora that requires mandatory jail time for those convicted of stealing more than $300 of items of business. She said she's considering proposing something similar in Pueblo.

"My thought is let's pass an ordinance that gets this merchant theft dropped to five hundred or three hundred dollars," Graham said. "Maybe we need to put them through municipal court and not through the District Attorney's office, so they can be charged and be held accountable."

According to 9News, three council members voted against the ordinance, debating the true cost of the ordinance and its effectiveness at driving down retail crime.

Under the Misdemeanor Reform Act, which became law on March 1, 2022, stealing less than $2,000 in goods is a misdemeanor and doesn't result in jail time.

"To really get to that $2,000 mark is quite difficult," Graham said. "Just two weeks ago when I was robbed, the man was out within seven hours."

On November 3, the Pueblo Police Department is hosting a forum for small business owners in Pueblo. The purpose is to search for solutions to complex problems facing small business owners.

"Small business owners are very upset. I think it's going to be a very heated conversation about what's going on in town," Graham said.

Ahead of Thursday's public meeting, 13 Investigates asked Pueblo Mayor Nick Gradisar what solutions can be brought forward to help small businesses combat theft and burglaries.

Gradisar described how he dealt with burglaries at a building he owned 15 years ago.

"We put bars on the windows. We hardened the building and all the burglaries ceased, so that's part of the solution," Gradisar said.

When asked about the multiple break-ins at Graham's Grill, he admitted that it was "strange."

13 Investigates asked Gradisar if he would support mandatory jail time for theft offenders, citing what Aurora just passed.

"Am I philosophically opposed to that? No, I'm not. Especially it's repeat offenders," Gradisar said. "I think we need to take steps to harden the penalties for those folks who just haven't gotten the message. I'm talking about career criminals who think they can make a living doing those things."

He said he welcomes ideas to solve the problem but warns how the city should implement new crime policies.

"A lot of it depends on what kind of a society do we want to live in," Gradisar questioned. "If we lived in Iran or Afghanistan, they punish shoplifters by cutting off their hand. I don't think that's what we want to do."

All small business owners are invited to attend and voice concerns or bring potential solutions to Thursday's meeting.