Burglar found hiding in ceiling of Frank’s Pizzeria

WARWICK — While responding to a report of a break-in near Frank’s Pizzeria in downtown Warwick last week, police found their suspect hiding in up in the ceiling of a broom closet in the restaurant.
While town of Warwick police were searching the restaurant, Lt. Thomas Maslanka said that Det. Mike Hoffman was examining the closet after a K-9 led him there and noticed a very small opening in the ceiling.
“He stuck his head up into the void and was face to face with the defendant who was hiding in the ceiling,” Maslanka said, “so he immediately got his hands and got him down from out of the ceiling, and he was arrested without any incident.”
Christopher M. Linn, 20, of Vernon, N.J., allegedly failed to get the cash register open before realizing police were coming and climbed up to hide in the ceiling, according to Maslanka. Linn allegedly took the $3 in quarters from a donation jar on the pizza counter before hiding.
According to Maslanka, Linn allegedly got into Frank’s Pizzeria by forcing open a door to a vacant storefront on South St. and then forcing open a door to a staircase leading up to Frank’s. When Warwick police received the call at 6:30 a.m. on Aug. 10 of a suspicious individual near that area, police noticed the vacant storefront door was damaged, eventually leading them to the suspect.
No one was in the restaurant at the time of the incident. Linn was charged with burglary and was remanded to the Orange County Jail awaiting grand jury action.
Frank’s Pizzeria, a family-owned and operated restaurant in the heart of Warwick, celebrated its 40th anniversary this past June.