So I went to the source of this story, a friend of a friend, who listens to the police band. To the best of his recollection he heard the police called in over a violent dispute involving a chair being thrown through a window. He swears up and down on this but admits he was paying attention to another police call for a shooting near a school. Apparently, the Frappucino Theory was a construct of my friend to get me interested - knowing I like Coffee Slingers, even with their no frappe some-call-it-snobism policy.

I don't really know this guy well, but he has passed on accurate and timely info before. That being said, and having thought about it some more, I highly doubt even the stupidest criminal would smash through a big window and crawl through glass shards for the hopes of finding money in a coffee shop on a brightly-lit well-trafficked street. Much more likely a smash and grab attempt would have targeted the bike shop next door. Those bikes sell for close to $1,000 and wouldn't necessarily be that hard to offload. A bike would make a good get away vehicle too.

Mcbee04, I bet that the barista you called was probably told by the owner it was a break-in, especially if it was the owner in the altercation, to avoid the embarrassment.

My money is on a violent dispute (over coffee?), or just someone with a (coffee?) grudge vandalizing the store. Straight up robbery is very low on my list of reasonable explanations.