On Sunday night, the Sea Monster Café, located near Avatiu harbour, had a break-in, leaving owner Komera Dean questioning what the alleged culprit expected to find in a small business.

Dean, who started operating her business around October 2023, has never had any issues like this before.

“It’s a small business, what do you expect to take from a small business, of course we won’t leave any money here, it does not make sense to target small business,” Dean says.

Speaking to Cook Islands News, Dean said the alleged incident happened on Sunday night, around 9.30pm to 10pm.

She believes the would-be thief likely didn’t have time to steal anything before a Ports Authority security guard, possibly on their rounds, scared them off.

“He came at the right time,” Dean says. “There wasn’t much damage or anything, I think because of Ports (security) they didn’t have enough time to take anything, just snap the lock. They didn’t touch anything else.”

Initially, Dean only noticed a jar of chutney missing.

“I think because they were interrupted, they did not notice my iPad and the speaker was still here. I thought that would be the first thing they would take.” When a customer mentioned a tip the next day, Dean realised the tip jar, containing around $5 worth of 20 cent coins, was also gone.