Twink's Diner, located at 208 5th Street in Iron Gate was burgled and vandalized prior to the arrival of head cook, Pam Dotson, on the morning of Friday, March 28, who showed up for work around 9 a.m.

Twink's 220 Diner Burgled, Vandalized Suspect Apprehended by Police Hours Later By Jennifer Bailey Staff Writer Iron Gate, VA (Mar. 29, 2025)— "I was awakened by a call that no one who is in a small business likes to receive... a frantic call from Twinkles [Ellen Kay, owner of Twink's 220 Diner] asking me to hurry up and get to the diner quick... that the diner had been robbed," Chris Simmons, nephew to Ellen Kay, wrote in a Facebook post yesterday. The Journal reached out to Kay, who most people known simply as "Twinkles," on Saturday morning to obtain more information about the alleged incident and was grateful she was willing to sit down with us at the scene of the crime: Twink's 220 Diner, located at 208 5th Street in Iron Gate, to share additional details about the ordeal. According to Twinkles, the diner's head cook, Pam Dotson, went in to work at approximately 8:55 a.m. yesterday morning and noticed several items strewn about next to the cash register. "She [Dotson] thought I was here because the counter was all messed up," Kay said. "The counter was messed up and she thought I'd been looking for something under the counter. And then when she turned around saw all this done, she knew something was up. She was afraid I was in the back —knocked out or something— because I wasn't answering my phone." When asked what she meant by "all this," Kay stated that several items (usually kept in the host stand) were scattered on the floor as well as fragments of glass, which was later determined to be caused by the destruction of the claw machine. According to Kay, head cook Dotson, now worried her boss might be knocked out in the back somewhere, ran through the diner looking for her. When she came up short, she called 911. Police Chief Scott Balser was first to respond to the scene. According to Twinkles, Pam Dotson made the 911 call at around 9:05 a.m. and, by 9:15 a.m., Balser was standing inside the diner. According to Kay, by the time Balser arrived on scene, Dotson noted one of the diner's insulated bags —with grey interior— was missing, but believed it was unrelated to the incident and that Kay might have had it in her possession. That was later determined to be false. "We cleaned up everything and opened yesterday. I thought about closing —because I didn't know long how long it would take the cops to do their stuff— but they were out of here within an hour and a half." The diner owner also stated that she felt like it would be giving a victory to the burglar/vandal should she chosen to close the doors yesterday. Apart from the claw machine, quarter machine, and a couple of shadowboxes which were all vandalized, there appeared to be minimal damage done to the diner and the employees were able to clean up the mess rather quickly. The glass on the front of the claw machine was shattered with the contents cleaned out, the quarter machine endured a similar fate, and the aforementioned shadowboxes had been forced open, causing damage to hinges. Chris Simmons' Facebook post alleged that over $2500 had been stolen from the diner. We have since learned that those items include, but are not limited to, items removed from the claw and quarter machines, $125 in cash, an autographed Ward Burton suit, an autographed shadowbox containing a golf ball and glove, an autographed photo of the Barber twins, a Michael Vick jersey, and an old Coke uniform, right down to $300 Coke-a-Cola shoes, stripped from a mannequin in the entry of the diner. We reached out to Chief Balser, who stated, "I responded [to the scene] at the county's request and secured it until the sheriff's office got there." At this time, we have not been able to speak with the Deputy handling the case. However, Kay noted that the police were able to obtain images from her interior security cameras and quickly identified a minor suspect. When they showed up at his home, his mother gave police permission to search the home where they found the diner's missing insulated bag —with grey interior— and all the items stolen. It was at this point, according to Kay, that the suspect was apprehended. At this time, the Journal has been unable to confirm any of these details with either police department, though we would be unable to release the suspect's name due to his age. "He had got one of our insulated canvas bags and packed everything in it and took it home," Kay said. Evidently, nothing had been taken out of the bag, so the diner was able to recover all its losses. Ellen "Twinkles" Kay stated that she wanted to thank the Clifton Forge Police Department, Police Chief Scott Balser, the Alleghany Sheriff's Department, Officer Murillo, and Officer Gillispie for all their hard work, dedication, quick response, and the incredible job they did yesterday. "They were just amazing," she said, "and I'm so grateful for what they did."

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