By Katie de la Rosaedelarosa@theadvertiser.com

Lafayette Police are investigating a burglary at a Johnston Street bakery that happened early Monday morning.

At Sophi P. Cakes around 5:40 a.m., a suspect snatched the cash register after he entered through a back door using no force, Lafayette police spokesman Sgt. Randal Leger said. Once the employee on duty saw him in walking in an adjacent kitchen, she locked herself in an unknown area. She then called police after she discovered the missing register. No one was injured.

The baker described the suspect as a 6-foot-tall male of an unknown race wearing a black hooded sweatshirt and white tennis shoes. Sophi P.'s has surveillance cameras, co-owner Jennifer Melancon said, but the suspect was nearly unrecognizable because of his thick clothing. She said she closed the bakery for the day after the burglary, in part to review and perhaps enhance the shop's security measures.

There are currently no leads on the identity of the suspect, Leger said.

Initially, Melancon said, the employee mistook the suspect for Melancon's husband, who co-owns the bakery. Melancon repeatedly expressed her gratitude for how quickly police arrived, and Leger confirmed the officers responded to the call "within minutes" after it was dispatched.

Melancon said her home was "significantly robbed" last year on Father's Day, but she considers this burglary to be far worse because she is responsible for her young staff.

"What an awful thing to do to ask your employees to come into work and feel unsafe," she said. "They shouldn't have to worry about working here."

Last week, the cupcake shop celebrated its fourth anniversary, and Melancon said only minor incidents have happened during that time.

"Mop buckets, kitchen mats, things like that have been stolen from the back of our store, so I guess we've just been naive," she said. "We're not anymore."

Sophi P.'s is set to reopen Tuesday.