A thief broke into a vegetarian stir-fry restaurant in Taipei's Da'an district during the staff lunch break and cleaned out the cash register — bad news for the owner, though police say they've already identified the suspect.

• The break-in hit a restaurant on Da'an Road in the busy East District shopping area while workers were resting.
• The thief slipped behind the counter, emptied the register, and got away with about NT$25,000.
• Security footage shows the man circled outside first, then entered three times in 15 minutes — once to ask if the shop was open, once to grab the cash, and once to dig through the money box and wipe his fingerprints.
• Police say the suspect is a known repeat thief and have his identity; the 38-year-old owner filed a report the same day.

Outlook: Police are pulling more camera footage to track the man down and expect to make an arrest, while warning shops to lock up and secure cash during off-hours.