After a series of burglaries along Southwest Boulevard on both sides of the state of Missouri and Kansas, investigators are looking for suspects while executives are looking for solutions. One of the restaurants robbed over the weekend was La Bodega. Jodi Cacioppo was a lunch guest there Monday with her son, Trevor, and his girlfriend, Chloe. “I don’t think it’s a good thing for our next Super Bowl. And we have the footballers coming in 2026 and that will be good. I just bought a house in Westport, I even had people steal my porch pillows and I’m so pissed off about it,” she said. Another lunch guest who showed support at La Bodega on Monday was councilor Crispin Rea. The restaurant is in his district. “We approved … $23 million, which is a 30% increase over last year’s budget, for police funding to hire 150 new officers and provide pay increases to retain the officers we already have.” Rhea said. “I know we haven’t hired the 150 officers yet, but I know the police department is working to do that. But that’s an important part of that is making sure there’s an active police patrol presence in hot spots where we know these things happen.” In September, Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas announced a pilot program called the “Back to Business Fund.” by Monday, the city had helped 40 businesses recover from theft and vandalism, as well as increase security. Mildred’s, a restaurant with two locations in the Kansas City area, was hit by thieves in September at both stores. Owner Evan Ashby said after immediately applying for the program, he just received his final funding last week from the city totaling about $3,000 to replace broken glass and add more security. “I think improving security is an important part of that, so that these businesses aren’t just replacing what was before, but we’re doing it in a way that makes them safer and less likely to be a victim, Rea said. New Jackson County District Attorney Melesa Johnson said she has created a new property crimes division within that office to get those cases moving as quickly as possible. through the judicial system after the suspects are caught. “We’ve already started partnering with different regions and entertainment districts in Jackson County to proactively work with security guards, business owners,” she said. Kansas Mayor Quinton Lucas also weighed in on social media following recent news of a crime spree.”I’m so sorry to see this, and every one of the dozens of posts we’ve seen over the past year about property crimes in Kansas City and some that are seen today,” he said in comments on the affected businesses’ social media pages. “The city is working hard to do everything it can: organizing community improvement areas to unify private security efforts; building two detention facilities for offenders in the city (the larger one is subject to a public vote in April); improving cameras and lighting throughout the city and more.” As of Monday, the city’s Back to Business Fund had paid out $116,322.61. There is $183,677.39 left in that pilot program fund.
After a string of burglaries along Southwest Boulevard on both the Missouri and Kansas sides of the state line, investigators are searching for suspects while leaders are searching for solutions.
One of the restaurants robbed over the weekend was La Bodega.
Jodi Cacioppo was invited to lunch on Monday with her son, Trevor, and his girlfriend, Chloe.
“I don’t think it’s a good thing for our next Super Bowl. And we have the footballers coming in 2026 and that will be good. I just bought a house in Westport, and I even had people steal my porch pillows, and I’m so pissed off about it,” she said.
Another lunch guest who showed support at La Bodega on Monday was councilor Crispin Rea. The restaurant is in his neighborhood.
“We approved … $23 million, which is a 30% increase over last year’s budget, for police funding to hire 150 new officers and provide pay raises to retain the officers we already have,” Rhea said. “I know we haven’t hired the 150 officers yet, but I know the police department is working to do that. But that’s an important part of that is making sure there’s an active police patrol presence in hot spots where we know these things happen.”
In September, Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas announced a pilot program called the “Return to Business Fund.”
As of Monday, the city had helped 40 businesses recover from theft and vandalism, as well as increase security.
Mildred’s, a restaurant with two locations in the Kansas City area, was hit by thieves in September at both stores.
Owner Evan Ashby said after immediately applying for the program, he just received his final funding last week from the city of about $3,000 to replace broken glass and add more security.
“I think improving security is an important part of that, so that these businesses aren’t just replacing what was before, but we’re doing it in a way that makes them safer and less likely to be a victim.” Rhea said.
New Jackson County District Attorney Melesa Johnson said she has created a new property crimes division within that office to move those cases through the court system as quickly as possible after suspects are caught.
“We’ve already started partnering with different regions and different entertainment districts in Jackson County to proactively work with security guards, business owners,” she said.
Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas also weighed in on social media following the latest spate of crimes.
“I’m very sorry to see this and every one of the dozens of posts we’ve seen over the past year regarding property crimes in Kansas City and some seen today,” he said in comments on the businesses’ social media pages. affected. “The city is working hard to do everything it can: organizing community improvement zones to unify private security efforts; building two detention facilities for offenders in the city (the larger one is subject to a public vote in April); improving cameras and lighting throughout the city and more.”
As of Monday, the city’s Back to Business Fund had paid out $116,322.61.
There is $183,677.39 left in that pilot program fund.
