After three stores’ windows were found smashed and products or cash missing early Wednesday, police are investigating if the burglaries are connected, Gainesville Police said.
An AT&T store, located at 6110 NW Fourth Place, was burglarized at about 3:30 a.m. by three suspects, who police said were young males wearing masks and gloves. Officers responded to an alarm when the suspects threw a rock in the store’s window and took an unknown amount of display items and merchandise, GPD spokesperson Officer Ben Tobias wrote in an email.
About 30 minutes later, while police were investigating the scene of the AT&T burglary, another burglary was reported at the Sprint store in Butler Plaza. The alarm company told police they were watching the burglary through the store’s security cameras, Tobias said. The suspect was wearing a hoodie, grey sweatpants, red sandals, black socks and gloves and smashed the front door before stealing two display items.
Next to the Sprint store, officers discovered the Gainesville Running & Walking store’s window was smashed, and the cash register was on the sidewalk outside, missing cash, police said.
“We do know that other jurisdictions in Florida have reported similar burglaries in their areas,” Tobias said.
Anyone with information should call GPD’s Detective Bureau at 352-393-7670, Tobias said.
Contact Meryl Kornfield at mkornfield@alligator.org. Follow her on Twitter @merylkornfield.
