>Someone broke the glass on the front door of the House of Hanson grocery store in Dinkytown early Friday, according to a police report.

Owner Laurel Bauer said a concrete block used for patio landscaping was thrown through the glass front door. A man came in and filled a trash can with merchandise, she said.

After watching video surveillance footage, Bauer said she didn’t think the thief was a student, but one of a group of men known to burglarize area businesses.

Two years ago, a similar burglary took place at the House of Hanson, Bauer said. Lost merchandise for a small business is a taxing, frustrating event on top of the $1,000-plus electric bills and rent, she said.

“If someone should steal a bottle of pop, I have to sell 35 bottles of pop before I can make a profit again because of business costs,” Bauer said.

In addition to $1,200 worth of door locks, she said she is preparing to put bars on the windows and doors.

“It’s not something I want to do,” she said, “but I’m gonna have to.”

Police said the case is under further investigation.

Man chases burglar away

A man heard a strange noise at his ground-level window in an apartment building in the 1100 block of Como Avenue Southeast Friday afternoon.

When he checked on the sound, he saw a man trying to remove a weather screen at about 3:30 p.m., according to a police report. The victim yelled at the burglar and ran outside to chase the man, police said.

The suspect got across the street and into a purple Dodge Neon and fled eastbound on Como.

Police said no evidence was left at the scene and the victim could positively identify the suspect if he saw him again.

The case is under further investigation.

Crime briefs

A man from Richfield, Minn., was robbed at knifepoint on 23rd Avenue South near the Seward neighborhood at about 10:30 p.m. on April 12, according to a police report.

The man came to Minneapolis to visit a woman he met on MySpace.com, but before the evening was over, she pulled out a knife and robbed him, police said.

It wasn’t clear what was stolen, but police will continue to investigate the case.

The man declined to comment.

On Saturday at about 1:30 a.m., a man ran out into traffic and halted a Metro Transit bus in front of McDonald’s, according to a police report.

The bus was stopped for 12 minutes while blocking two lanes of traffic on Fourth Street Southeast before police arrived to arrest the man. Police booked him at Hennepin County Jail for interfering with the bus company.