Ferndale Police Say Power Outage Played Roll in Friday Morning Burglary of Anita's Kitchen

employees got to work on Saturday at 5:30 a.m. and found a pile of broken glass near the side door.

When they entered the restaurant, they noticed the cash register was missing. 

"The power was out, the lights were off," Ferndale Police Lt. Detective William Wilsons said. "It appears they took advantage of the power outage."

About $200 was inside the register, Wilson said.

The outage started on Wednesday at about 5:30 p.m. and continued until Saturday at 6 a.m. .

DTE Energy claims that the excessive heat – temperatures were in the 90s all last week and hit 100 degrees in some parts of southeast Michigan on Thursday – and stressed equipment led to the outage.

Due to the outage, there was no surveillance and no generated alarm. Wilson said Ferndale Police would dust the place for fingerprints in order to identify the suspects.

This is the only reported incident due to the outage, Wilson said. 

"No reports of any other incidents during the blackout," he said.

The Ferndale Fire Chief Kevin Sullivan on Saturday, after the power was fully restored, reported that there were no major or significant runs as a result of the outage.