Thieves Bore Through Strip Club Roof, Filch $250k Cash

Bold crooks cut a hole into the roof of the Onyx Gentlemen’s Club before absconding with a quarter-million dollars

The Onyx Gentlemen’s Club in Atlanta’s Morningside/Lenox Park neighborhood was the scene of a bold crime after two thieves cut a hole in the building’s roof and then stole $250,000 in cash. (Onyx club, pictured.) — The Onyx Gentlemen’s Club in Atlanta’s Morningside/Lenox Park neighborhood was the scene of a brazen crime after two men cut a hole in the building’s low slope roof and spent two hours using power tools to break into safes holding a quarter-million dollars in cash.
— Image courtesy of WXIA-TV

News out of Atlanta on Monday night saw police investigating a brazen burglary at a popular but trouble-plagued strip club where two thieves absconded with $250,000 in cash after cutting a hole in the building’s roof.

WSB-TV first reported the news of the quarter-million-dollar heist at the Onyx Gentlemen’s Club on Cheshire Bridge Road in the Morningside/Lenox Park neighborhood, about four miles northeast of downtown Atlanta.

The roof on the Onyx Gentleman's Club where thieves cut a hole to enter the building.

The section of the roof where thieves cut a hole to enter the Onyx Gentleman's Club to then steal $250,000.

Police said two thieves, wearing white ski masks and gloves, cut a hole in the low slope roof and then climbed down into the business around 4:15 a.m. Sources told WSB that the assailants came equipped with power tools to break into the club’s safes, which held the cash — presumably all in singles. The criminals spent about two hours inside the business before surveillance cameras recorded them leaving shortly before 6 a.m.

Three employees who asked their identities be hidden because they were not authorized to speak with the media told WSB-TV that multiple surveillance cameras recorded the crime. The employees added that exterior cameras saw the suspects running from the business after absconding with the money.

When contacted, Atlanta police declined to comment, citing an ongoing investigation.

Dollars falling from the sky. According to Zillow, the gentleman’s club in the Morningside/Lenox Park neighborhood is considered one of Atlanta's safest neighborhoods, with violent and property crime rates about half the city average.

The area is also one of Atlanta’s wealthier areas, with a median home value of around $640,000, which is higher than the city average. Realtor.com says the neighborhood is known for its historic homes, mostly built in the 1930s and earlier, in the Tudor and Craftsman styles.

This makes the location of Onyx only slightly less stunning than some of its more recent history preceding the theft. Reports of gunshots fired at the club happened last summer as well as during the summer of 2021, according to police reports.

In 2014, the club’s DJ was arrested and subsequently convicted of hiring a hitman to kill his then-estranged wife, who had reportedly been seeking a divorce. An email from Roofing Contractor to the club seeking comment went unanswered.

KEYWORDS: Atlanta crime

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Bryan Gottlieb is the online editor at Engineering News-Record (ENR).

Gottlieb is a five-time Society of Professional Journalists Excellence in Journalism award winner with more than a decade of experience covering business, construction, and community issues. He has worked at Adweek, managed a community newsroom in Santa Monica, Calif., and reported on finance, law, and real estate for the San Diego Daily Transcript. He later served as editor-in-chief of the Detroit Metro Times and was managing editor at Roofing Contractor, where he helped shape national industry coverage.

Gottlieb covers breaking news, large-scale infrastructure projects, new products and business.