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Estrella Tropical Hit By Burglars

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By YVETTE C. HAMMETT, The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 12, 2007

Updated: 12/10/2007 06:22 pm

VALRICO - A family-owned restaurant known for its community outreach and festive atmosphere took on a somber air last week after burglars stole some $20,000 in electronics, food and beer.

Estrella Tropical Latin Restaurant & Deli owners Eliseo Espinosa and daughter Elizabeth said the burglars left a trail of food leading into the woods behind their plaza at State Road 60 and Valrico Road. The thieves also discarded a handmade Puerto Rican cuatro guitar, found cracked and abandoned in the woods.

The Espinosas had been seasoning meats and preparing other foods for their upcoming annual parranda, a traditional Puerto Rican Christmas festival that last year drew more than 500 people. This year, the pair are expecting close to 1,000 to fill the restaurant and outside tents Saturday.

"We're still going to do it, we'll just be going into debt to do it," Eliseo Espinosa said. "There are a lot of people counting on us."

The restaurant teamed up this year with the Hispanic Services Council in Plant City, which provides outreach to the Hispanic community. Some of the proceeds from the event, called Sigue la Estrella, or Follow the Star, will go to the council.

Hillsborough County sheriff's spokeswoman Debbie Carter said officers have little to go on. The department's K-9 officers followed the trail of food into the woods but got no farther, she said.

Detectives did, however, detect numerous fingerprints on equipment the burglars left behind, the Espinosas said.

"Now, we have to start figuring out how to replace everything," Eliseo Espinosa said Thursday as he waited to hear back from his insurance company.

"They threw a cement block through the front door and kind of trashed the place," he said. Because the burglars never opened the doors, but instead passed merchandise through the broken window, the alarm system wasn't triggered, he said.

Among the items stolen were a television, DVD player, amplifiers and a wireless microphone system used weekly by entertainers who perform at the cafe. They also stole several cuatros, including the handmade instrument worth about $1,000.

Estrella is not the first store in the plaza to be burglarized, the Espinosas said. At least two others have been hit for cash, drugs and air-conditioning units, they said. Every window on the side of the former Val's craft and home decor store has been broken.

"Whoever did this must have known the type of equipment we had in here, but it was a sloppy job," Elizabeth Espinosa said, adding she doesn't believe the burglars were adults.

The burglary is especially disheartening, she said, because the restaurant is known for reaching out to the community. It offers live entertainment every weekend and has recently begun holding workshops to help people learn about the Puerto Rican culture.

"We can't stop what we do," Elizabeth Espinosa said. "We're going on. We're having this party. Whoever did this underestimated my father, underestimated us."

She said she and her father have received numerous calls and e-mails from people offering help during the parranda.

"This is a family restaurant, and we have to make up this loss on her own," she said.

But the community's support, she added, does cushion the blow.

THE PARRANDA
Sigue la Estrella will take place from 7 p.m. to midnight at Estrella Tropical Latin Restaurant & Deli, 1941 E. State Road 60, behind Applebee's at State Road 60 and Valrico Road. The event will include food, traditional Puerto Rican music, a troubadour who improvises lyrics and The Three Kings, a traditional part of the island's Christmas celebration. Tickets are $5 for general admission or $20 per person for a reserved table. There will also be games and contests and a drawing, half the proceeds from which will go to the nonprofit Hispanic Services Council. For information, call Estrella Tropical at (813) 643-8700.

Reporter Yvette C. Hammett can be reached at yhammett@tampa trib.com.

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