Davenport bar recovers after burglary
A Quad Cities bar is grateful for community support after incidents that led police to charge a suspect with robbery and burglary charges.
The establishment targeted was Probstei Inn Bar and Grill in Davenport.
Court records say Davenport Police arrested 24-year-old Trenton Stewart early Tuesday. Stewart, whose address is listed both as Davenport and Moline, faces two felony charges of forgery, and a felony charge of third-degree burglary.
Court records say police responded to a call about 10:30 a.m. Monday in reference to a commercial burglary. Arrest affidavits say Steward “with no right, license, or privilege” forced entry into Probstei Inn by pushing out an air-conditioning unit attached to the window of the business.
In arrest affidavits, police allege that, once Stewart was inside the business, he stole various business checks belonging to Probstei Inn, along with a safe.
An hour later on the same day, court records say, Davenport Police responded to CBI Bank & Trust, 2322 E. Kimberly Road, Davenport, in reference to fraud. Arrest affidavits say Stewart entered CBI Bank & Trust with a forged check belonging to Probstei Inn. Court records say the defendant did this twice at different times, and was captured on surveillance footage.
“It’s nothing anybody ever wants to go through,” said Mandy, a Probstei Inn Bar and Grill manager. “Nobody wants to get robbed.”
Probstei Inn workers arrived Monday morning to find the business wasn’t the way they left it.
“There was a bartender on her way out of the bar already,” Mandy said. “She made it in the door, and immediately noticed something wasn’t right. The rug was in the wrong spot, she stepped behind the bar and realized the safe was gone.”
In surveillance video workers provided Our Quad Cities News, the suspect can be seen inside, pulling the safe out from under the bar. He then leaves with it, but because it’s too heavy, he doesn’t get very far.
“He made it to the field next door with the safe,” Mandy said. “The police were able to recover it. He was not able to get into it, so really all he really did was make a huge mess for us to clean up.”
That mess would extend to the business bank account. Court records show Stewart forged a check belonging to Probstei Inn.
“We had to close our bank account,” Mandy said. “We weren’t able to take cards initially, because everything dumps into the account that we can’t use. It’s just a nightmare. It was a mess in here that had to be cleaned up. We weren’t even sure when we were able to be open.”
Against all odds, Probstei Inn opened its doors on the same day of the break-in.
“We didn’t expect that either,” Mandy said. “We’re going to post we’re open, and like it’s just going to be a ghost town, we just got robbed. That’s just now how it worked out, so it’s been really great.”
The staff at the Probstei Inn are thankful for the community support.
“We have to deal with the consequences of it right now,” Mandy said. “So it’s been really cool to see people reach out on Facebook, customers check in to check on us. People say they’re going to come in and support us through this.”
A preliminary hearing for Stewart, who was released on his own recognizance, is set for May 10 in Scott County Court.
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