‘I shouldn’t be surprised’: Betty Rae’s owner responds to second robbery in three weeks

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) - Betty Rae’s Ice Cream owner Matt Shatto is again calling on Mayor Quinton Lucas to put an end to crime in the River Market after his shop’s second break-in in a single month.

Betty Rae’s Ice Cream announced on Sunday, Oct. 13, that its River Market location at 412 Delaware Street has seen a second break-in within three weeks.

Surveillance video caught the thief shattering one of the front doors and then walking out with a safe.

“I can’t believe it happened twice,” said Matt Shatto, owner.

Shatto has been vocal on social media about his pleas for change. He said the city’s Back to Business plan isn’t enough to protect local business owners and won’t prevent crime from happening.

The Back to Business Fund is a grant program offered by the City of Kansas City to help small businesses recover from vandalism and break-ins. The program offers financial assistance, resources, and guidance to help businesses rebuild. Applications will re-open on Tuesday, Oct. 15.

“Having a presence in the community when the crime takes place is the biggest and best deterrent,” Shatto said. “Not some Back to Business program that gives me some grant money from the taxpayer that has to fund the cost of a perpetrator that’s never going to get caught.”

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Shatto said if more proactive measures are put into place, this will keep happening and he might have to consider leaving the River Market.

“There’s a limit to what we can do. I can put bars on the front of that window. I can put drop down, roll down metal gates in front of our doors when we close, but then we become Downtown LA,” said Shatto.

As of noon on Monday, no one has been taken into custody.

The Kansas City, Missouri, Police Department had no updates on the case as of Monday morning.

“I need to spend my time training employees and making the best ice cream in Kansas City,” Shatto said. “Not talking to the news or mayor about what we can do to reduce crime in Kansas City.”

Shatto said Betty Rae’s applied for Back to Business funding when applications first opened on Oct.7 but has not been reimbursed by the city.

In total, the grant sets aside $325,000 for shops targeted by thieves and allows business owners the opportunity to receive up to $3,000 for repairs and up to $5,000 for increased security.

ALSO READ: Kansas City businesses want to see more efforts made to prevent rampant break-ins

On the now second break-in at the same shop, a spokesperson for Mayor Lucas again pointed to the Back to Business Fund as an action against crime while also expressing a commitment to continue the fight for small businesses.

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