Break-in bread: the sum rises in the yeast.

• Author: Murray, Arthur O.
• Position: Tar Heel Tattler - Owner of Famous Pita and Bakery Co. arrested

It had the ingredients of a spy novel: A man dons a disguise to slip past sophisticated security devices to steal secret formulas. A lucky break fingers the suspect. Most of all, there's plenty of dough. Especially sourdough.

Greensboro police arrested Mazen Fathi Said, owner of Famous Pita & Bakery Co., charging him with stealing trade secrets, criminal trespass and impersonation of an employee. He is accused of swiping 66 secret recipes valued by police at $30 million from Morabito Baking Co. in Norristown, Pa. "It's a classic case of industrial espionage," police Capt. Gary Hastings says.

Said, a Palestinian from Israel, opened Famous Pita in 2000. Michael Angelo Morabito Jr., president of the Pennsylvania bakery, says Said had asked for information on how to bake better-tasting hoagie rolls. Morabito Baking distributes its breads, including its specialty sourdough, nationwide.

The recipes were taken from an unlocked desk at 4:32 a.m. June 14. Morabito knows the time because the company has 16 hidden surveillance cameras. About three hours later, a shift manager noticed the recipes were missing. Morabito combed through 14 hours of tape to put together the following sequence: A man parks a van near an unlocked door of the bakery. He enters, snatching a lab coat and a hairnet he uses to cover part of...