Thieves are making their way across rural Cass County with homes and businesses alike burglarized. In many cases it's a smash and grab and residents are concerned.

Many travel away from the city looking for the peace and quiet of a small town, but last month at the Firehouse Grille in Murray, Nebraska, someone made a lot of noise when they smashed Donovan Merrill's front door.

“There was glass all over the floor from the window, the lead pipe was lying on the ground, the cash drawer missing. One of the reasons I moved down here 10 years ago was 'cause it’s not common and this recent wave of acts of larceny, it’s a new thing to a lot of people.”

Jim Gillott lives across the street from the restaurant and says he came home one day last week and his garage door was open and a lot of things were missing. “My motorcycle, my grandson’s bike, all my tools, battery charger, leaf blower, car washer. They cleaned me out.”

Jim’s big loss was his big Harley, a $30,000 toy gone.

Items are also missing from Murray’s Building Supply and from Lots For Less in Plattsmouth, both burglarized Saturday morning. Before the thieves went in, they removed the power meters causing all electricity to be shut off.

Law enforcement believes the crimes are tied together. “We've had a number of break-ins to business places in the last month-and-a-half and a half lot of ‘em have a lot of similarities, probably the same people,” said Brad Lahm of the Cass County Sheriff’s Department.

“These are happening in the early morning hours, just follow up on leads. Plattsmouth Police have recovered some of the stolen items.