A local man faces at least six counts of burglary and theft in connection with a string of burglaries at area businesses and car break-ins, Police Chief Don Dixon said during a news conference Tuesday.

Donovan Moore Jr., 21, 3409 West Roosevelt St., was arrested at 3 a.m. Oct. 7 in the 3600 block of Texas Street. Dixon said police caught Moore attempting to break into cars in the neighborhood.

Moore is accused of burglarizing the Buffi’s Peaux Boys location on Gerstner Memorial Boulevard several times. Dixon said Moore was a former employee at Buffi’s before leaving in April.

Some of the clothing and tools police found during the arrest matched the description from the burglaries at Buffi’s and Panda Super Buffet on La. 14, Dixon said. Officers searched Moore’s home Oct. 8 and recovered more evidence that “puts him at the crime scene” of the break-ins, he said.

Moore remains in the Calcasieu Correctional Center on a $50,000 bond. Dixon said additional charges against Moore are pending.

Paige Vidrine, Buffi’s owner, said the burglaries have been a huge emotional and financial burden for her and her employees. She said the business was burglarized twice in one week in April.

“I am happy that justice will be served,” Vidrine said.

Kaddie LeJeune, Buffi’s store manager, said the burglaries made the employees “second guess themselves” and nervous when closing the business at night.

“No business manager or owner should worry about the safety of their business or employees,” she said. “It’s not fair to us who work long hours to have someone walk in and just destroy our sense of security, our stability, our trust.”

Dixon said there is an easy way to stop these types of crimes from occurring.

“This young man should never see the light of day again until he is held accountable and paid back every penny to the victims or insurance companies,” he said. “Why we don’t do that, I have no idea.”

Anyone with information on related crimes should call Lake Charles Police at 491-1311.

Arrested Moore