Business will go on at Athens Pizza and Pasta in Auburn, but for the Contoravdis brothers, the fourth burglary in two years is a mental strain and hard on their wallets.

At about 3 a.m. March 16, Bill and Tom Contoravdis said they got a notification alerting movement on the cameras at their restaurant at 959 E. Main St. Bill Contoravdis said when he got the alert, he already knew what had happened because the only time they get alerts is after a break-in.

See footage of the break-in below:

Bill Contoravdis said officers came and cleared the business, and then the brothers had to start taking care of the mess from the break-in. Bill Contoravdis said no cash or other products were taken, so all the damage was to the property. He said that, luckily, his brother-in-law came down with some wooden boards, and they patched up the window as best they could. Then he and his brother spent hours cleaning up the glass.

Bill Contoravdis said it wasn’t until about 6 a.m. that the mess was cleared.

“We open at 12, and we can’t close just because of a busted window, and this is already going to set us back enough. We can’t lose sales for a full day because of a busted window,” he said. “I mean, you’ve got to keep going as frustrated, angry, upset that you get, your rent is still due, the insurance is still due, your taxes are still due, your payroll is still due.”

Tom Contoravdis said every time a break-in happens, insurance doesn’t cover it because they had to raise their deductible when there was a fire five years ago that wiped out the building. Tom Contoravdis said they had their front door glass smashed in late 2023 during another burglary, and they replaced it with stronger glass that’s harder to break, but that glass was costly. The brothers said this break-in would set them back thousands of dollars.

Bill Contoravdis said business will continue, and employees will be paid, but when an unexpected bill of thousands of dollars comes in, he and his brother are the ones who will need to take a pay cut. The price of everything is higher now than before, so an unexpected bill is not easy on the business, he said.

Bill and Tom Contoravdis said they bought Athens Pizza and Pasta in 1990, though their brother-in-law established the business in 1980. During the first 43 years the business had been open, and in the 33 years they had owned it, Bill Contoravdis said there had been no break-ins, but since late 2023, they’ve experienced four.

Some money was stolen during the first break-in, he said, but no money was taken after that because they didn’t keep any cash in the building, so all the costs were related to damage. He said one of the break-ins was at about 8:30 a.m. He said this is even more concerning because their elderly mother and father come in early some days to drink coffee, cut tomatoes or make Greek dressing.

“Thank God business is still good, but when you have these hits, it’s just too much. On top of that, you feel unsafe, like am I going to get jumped when I go to my truck in the morning?” Bill Contoravdis said. “Forget night, it happened in broad daylight. It’s not like back in the day, ‘Don’t go to this spot at night because it’s dangerous,’ it’s not like that no more. You could be anywhere.”

Bill Contoravdis said he thinks crime has been more rampant in Auburn because there is no accountability, but he doesn’t think it’s the police department’s fault. He describes it as when a kid is told, “no cookies before dinner.” He said if they keep being told, but there are no consequences, they will continue.

Bill Contoravdis said the community has come to support them every time there’s a break-in, but the effects of a break-in are still bothersome.

“Mentally, it bugs you. For a while, you walk with a different step,” Bill Contoravdis said.

According to Auburn Police Department spokesperson Kolby Crossley, there are no updates about the burglary, but a detective has been assigned to the case and will be following up on it.

Surveillance video of the break-in below:

Left to right: The burglar checking the cash register for money and the burglar jumping out of the window that they broke to enter the business. (Courtesy photos)