Does Alex know this?
Robbers torment Southie Poles
By Jennifer Rosinski
Friday, March 11, 2005
Bandits are terrorizing a Polish neighborhood in South Boston, where one deli has been hit six times in six months - including twice in one day - and even the church has been robbed.
``We're just not sure what to do anymore. A customer comes in the door and the clerk just looks at the door and wonders if it's really a customer,'' said Darek Barcikowski, who co-owns Baltic European Deli with his parents.
``Everyone is on the verge of a nervous breakdown.''
A staple on Dorchester Avenue for five years, the deli was held up with a 10-inch knife just before 6 p.m. Monday, hours after the Barcikowski family reported a break-in when they opened the shop, police and the family said.
Our Lady of Czestochoza across the street has also been the target of recent lootings, the Rev. Miroslaw Podymniak said.
``We do not feel safe,'' said Podymniak, who is contemplating installing a security system.
Three days after a man asked for money on Christmas he showed up again, but this time he smashed in doors and windows in search of cash, Podymniak said. The racket woke up the priest, who saw the man run off. There were two other thefts in December.
The deli has been robbed by thieves wielding a gun or knife five times since October, Bacikowski said. One of those times his mother, Joanna, had a gun pointed to her head.
In total, the store has lost more than $2,000 in cash and spent $3,000 on a security system. Bacikowski plans to move the security monitor on the counter to deter robbers.
``Our employees are scared to come to work here,'' said Bacikowski, whose family also owns a Polish cafe and bookstore on the same street. ``They don't want to take their life in their hands.'' |
