Thieves Break into The Alley, Thousands of Dollars in Damages

Few projects over the last few years have generated as much interest and excitement as The Alley – the new bowling alley and entertainment venue located at the former Leopard Lanes. The facility is currently undergoing a massive renovation with hopes to open this fall.

However, multiple break-ins this past weekend have led to thousands of dollars in damage at the facility. Alley owner Steve Kucirek elaborated, “The burglars stole several dozen bottles of alcohol, damaged additional entrances and doorways, walls and framework. Several pieces of equipment and tools that were being held securely in the building were also damaged or stolen.  We have over 16 sets of pinsetters in the building, and we believe that the culprits may have damaged those pieces of equipment as well – it is difficult to tell at this time because we need to run the pinsetters to determine if there is any damage.  The equipment aside, I would say that there was at least $5,000 dollars of damage done to the property.  And for what?  We have made The Alley publicly available on several occasions so that people can see our plans and the current condition of the building.”

When talking about a possible timeline for opening, Kucirek mentioned it could be delayed now due to the actions of these individuals. “It does add a bit of a delay since we now have to repair the damage they caused, and if they caused significant damage to any of the bowling equipment currently in the building, we may have to order replacement equipment or parts, that is going to cost additional money, and potentially time.  We have many leagues that are scheduled to start in the fall, but those leagues might get delayed if we have to continue contending with thefts and burglaries.”

It is believed that there were two separate break-ins by the same group last weekend – once on Saturday, May 6th with another break-in on Sunday, May 7th.  Kucirek mentioned that several leads were being followed up on and he encourages anyone with information about the crime to reach out to the Bellevue Police Department by calling their non-emergency number at (402) 293-3100. Kucirek is offering a reward for any evidence that leads to the arrest of one or all of the burglars. 

Kucirek has been working on this project for approximately 18 months and he discussed the strain this places on all of the people working to bring a much-needed entertainment venue to the community, “It is rather disheartening to see the property getting broken into like this.  I have at least two members of my family battling the tail-end of cancer, including my father.  I had just arrived at a family celebration when I received the news of the first break-in.  I am essentially throwing my life savings into this project, to bring something back to Bellevue, but to see my property damaged and equipment stolen in the middle of the night… is truly heartbreaking.  I have been working on this project since January 2022, planning the renovations, planning how to bring back the alley – to finally see the renovations start in earnest, to finally start seeing contractors and crews swinging hammers and start repairs, only to experience a burglary, I am rather speechless.  The fact that we are not open yet makes this more difficult because the repairs all cost money and we need all the money we have for equipment purchases, renovations, and property repairs so that we can open on time.  I have prayed every single day since I took this project on that it would succeed, and I continue praying every day that this project succeeds, but this sort of obstacle makes those struggles very difficult to contend with. We need all the support we can get to prevent future thefts, maintain our equipment, and to ensure that we open on time.”

Editor’s Note: In regard to the alcohol that was stolen, Mr. Kucirek shared that the previous owners left behind several dozen bottles of alcohol in a storeroom behind the bar. This storeroom was broken into and raided by the thieves.