Restaurant owner’s family becomes victims of burglary

POCATELLO — A Gate City restaurant owner’s family had their home broken into and burglarized late last week.

Vahn Phranasith, owner of Thai Zap, knew something was off when he and one of his daughters came home Feb. 23 after he picked her up from school. They went in through the garage, and Phranasith saw a cabinet door was left open.

Phranasith didn’t immediately think there had been a burglary when he saw this because “sometimes I myself forget to close my cabinet drawer.”

But then he saw clothes strewn around his daughter’s bedroom. Phranasith asked her if she had forgotten to clean her room, and she said no.

Before Phranasith went to check his own room, he told his daughter to stay upstairs while he checked the basement. He made sure the thieves weren’t still in the house and called 911.

Phranasith found his son’s belongs scattered around his room, and he found the same in his and his wife’s room.

“Everything was a mess,” Phranasith said.

Within 20 to 30 minutes, police arrived to investigate the burglary, he said. He hadn’t moved anything before they arrived and took photos throughout the house, as well as swabs for fingerprints. Phranasith believes the perpetrator wore gloves because officers didn’t find any fingerprints.

The intruders used the sliding glass door in the back to gain entry to the house. They weren’t able to get any fingerprints on the door, but they were able to get a footprint.

All of the electronic devices around the house had been flipped face down. They had a security camera, but Phranasith had plugged it in to charge in the living room, where the burglar didn’t go.

While the thieves didn’t steal any of the electronics in the family’s house, they did take jewelry, diamonds and money his children had been saving.

“It’s not just because the stuff that we lost. You don’t feel safe anymore,” Phranasith said.

While Phranasith is doing okay, he’s more worried about the effect the break-in has had on his family. Some of his children have been afraid to sleep in their own rooms since then.

He said his children don’t understand why the burglary happened to them.

“What did we do to deserve this?” his youngest child has asked him.

“We have done nothing to deserve this, we were just unlucky,” Phranasith explained.

In the days since the burglary, Phranasith has upgraded his security and gotten a full alarm system and barricades for the doors when his children are home alone. However, he still doesn’t feel completely secure.

“I still don’t trust it. They might come back even with all of this,” Phranasith said.

The Pocatello Police Department is trying to identify the persons of interest and gray vehicle in these photos. Anyone who has any information to offer can call the PPD Investigations Division at (208) 234-6121.

A friend of Phranasith named Mark Lynn has organized a fundraiser for the family. Anyone who wants to help the Phranasith’s cover the cost of the deductible on their homeowners insurance can donate there.