Thieves first attempted to enter a Union Street commercial building by breaking a vent, left, but ultimately gained entry through a corner of the roof to rob the Union Mart convenience store. (Photo by Carl E. Hartdegen)
WESTFIELD – A pair of patient thieves waited in the attic of a Union Street commercial building until all the merchants had left and then dropped through the ceiling to loot a convenience store and flee.
Det. Sgt. Steven Dickinson said that city police were alerted of a problem at the Union Mart convenience store at 12:22 a.m. Monday by an alarm company reporting that the alarm system in the store was repeatedly triggered.
Dickinson responded to the call and found the door open and the cash register pried open.
He said that he investigated and found that the thieves had entered through the ceiling.
“I think they tried the vent first” Dickinson said and reports that the louvers of a vent high on the east wall of the building were pried off but said that behind the louvers is a solid metal plate which apparently stymied the thieves, but only temporarily.
He said that the intruders apparently moved around a corner of the building and attacked the roof, first removing shingles and then prying and gouging the underlying plywood until they were able to squeeze through the opening they created to enter the attic of the building.
“They really did a job getting into there,” Dickinson said, and guessed “they probably spent two hours getting into the place.”
Once inside the thieves apparently waited.
Dickinson said that, after the store closed at 8 p.m., the owner returned about 11 p.m. to complete some work and later reported that he had heard noises in the ceiling but had discounted it.
Dickinson said that after hearing the sounds, the owner checked the parking lot for suspicious vehicles but, finding none, returned to the store to finish working, ascribing the sounds to the air conditioning system.
Once the owner left, Dickinson reports, the thieves made their move.
Dickinson said that the thieves were initially above a tanning salon also located in the building and they first broke through a ceiling panel there.
“I think they were getting their bearings,” Dickinson said, before they broke through the ceiling to enter the convenience store.
“The (security) video shows them dropping through the ceiling” of the convenience store he said, and said that, as the store’s alarm sounded, one of the two intruders went immediately to the cash register and pried it open with a pry bar he brought with him.
The other thief, Dickinson said, stole a tablet computer before both thieves ran out the front door with the cash from the register and the tablet.
Dickinson said that, judging from a preliminary viewing of the security video, the theft was accomplished by two male intruders who were wearing hooded sweatshirts.
Anyone with information about the break in is asked to call the detective bureau of the Westfield police department at 572-6400.
