A Reading man was arrested early Saturday after police say he burglarized two downtown city businesses \u2014 including Marvel Ranch, the diner recently overhauled on Gordon Ramsay\u2019s \u201cSecret Service.\u201d<\/p>\n
Officers detained Alberto Gonzalez Jr., 41, just over a block from the restaurant after a passerby spotted him carrying the restaurant\u2019s stolen cash register, according to police.<\/p>\n
He is being held in Berks County Jail on $50,000 bail following arraignment Saturday before District Judge Tonya Butler in Reading Central Court.<\/p>\n
Gonzalez of the 1100 block of Douglass Street was charged with burglary, theft by unlawful taking and criminal trespassing and criminal mischief in both break-ins. Additionally, he was charged with resisting arrest and possessing methamphetamine.<\/p>\n
According to court records:<\/p>\n
A dispatcher called in a burglary in progress about 3 a.m. Saturday, saying a man was carrying what appeared to be a TV set as he walked in the first block of North Fourth toward Court Street. The man began running east on Court when he was spotted by police, who detained him.<\/p>\n
Police discovered entry was made by hurling a rock through the entrance door. Officers met the owner at the restaurant, which had not yet opened for the day, and found the rock on the floor.<\/p>\n
The register had been ripped from electrical cords at the counter, and papers were strewn about.<\/p>\n
The only think missing was the register, which was recovered from Gonzalez.<\/p>\n
About a half-hour before that break-in, police were called for a burglary that had just occurred at North Fifth and Walnut streets.<\/p>\n
Police discovered a window next to the front door had been smashed. They found packs of cigarettes on the floor inside the store, which was not yet open.<\/p>\n
Officers found an empty register till on the floor at the checkout counter.<\/p>\n
The owner met officers at the store. She said there was only loose change in the register because the store had been burglarized about a week earlier. Information about the earlier break-in wasn\u2019t immediately available.<\/p>\n
She believed some cigarettes were stolen in Saturday\u2019s burglary, but didn\u2019t have the exact amount.<\/p>\n
Court records indicate Reading police on Saturday charged Gonzalez in a third burglary, but it was unclear what incident that charge was connected to.<\/p>\n
The break-in at Marvel Ranch comes a year after Gordon Ramsay and his crew were at the restaurant at Fourth and Penn streets, renovating the business and revamping its menu.<\/p>\n