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On security footage, a man can be seen trying to smash the restaurant’s point-of-sale system and throwing its phone system down the stairs, Manrique said. They discovered the damage when they arrived to open the restaurant Wednesday, and called the police.

After handing over the security tape to officers and cleaning up as much as they could, they closed Soca for the evening. Then, someone broke into the restaurant again overnight.

Police confirmed they were investigating two burglaries at 93 Holland Ave. The first was reported Wednesday afternoon and the second Thursday morning.

Manrique doesn’t believe the Wednesday night burglary was committed by the same person as the night before, based on the security tapes.

“I guess there wasn’t much left,” she said, but the burglar still made off with almost all of the liquor that remained in the restaurant.

Photo by Tony Caldwell / Postmedia

“I couldn’t believe it. I was here by myself when I first opened the restaurant, and as soon as I realized, I saw mud-prints on the kitchen floor, I’m like, ‘No, this didn’t happen again.’”

The Soca Kitchen has been open four years, and this week was the first time anyone had broken in, Manrique said. To have it happen twice, back to back, left her predominantly female staff “a little scared.”

Shaken as they were, they had a wedding to host in a matter of hours. Manrique said she emailed the couple, telling them not to worry, and that they’d do “everything in our power” to be ready for the big night. “And they’re having their wedding right now,” she said over the phone Thursday night.