Bar offers reward for information in Memorial Day theft

The owner of Legends Bar & Grill is offering a reward for information in a theft that caused him to cancel their Memorial Day fundraiser for veterans.

David Ajdini, Legends Bar & Grill owner, said he is angry burglars were brazen enough to break in on Memorial Day, forcing him to cancel the veterans’ benefit.

Ajdini is now offering a $1,000 reward for information leading to an arrest in the incident.

In an effort to give back, Ajdini and his staff planned to both remember service members who have made the ultimate sacrifice and raise funds for the veterans’ peer support group Dryhootch Madison.

However, overnight, as Legends’ staff took a break from preparing, Madison police say burglars went to work. Responding to a 5:27 a.m. alarm call, officers found a shattered glass door. Thieves had destroyed several gaming machines and made off with an undisclosed amount of cash.

The wires controlling Legends’ point-of -sale computer system had also been ravaged, leaving store employees unable to conduct business or hold their fundraiser.

“Everything has been damaged so much that we can’t even open,” Ajdini said.

That means a freezer full of food, including the 200 hot dogs and 200 hamburgers Legends had purchased to feed veterans for free, will likely go to waste. And all the potential donation dollars they were counting on were lost.

Ajdini said he planned on donating about 20 percent of total proceeds to Dryhootch. He said one of the most touching moments of the day happened when Dryhootch officials offered to send veterans over to assist with the cleanup.