Thieves Take Advantage Of Power Outage

Wednesday, December 12th 2007, 6:26 am

By: News On 6

Power outages caused several problems for Tulsa Police overnight. Just before midnight, someone smashed the front window of the Moody's Jewelry store at 11th and Harvard. The suspect stole some crystal pieces. A Tulsa Police officer assigned to check on the stores found what happened. No one has been arrested.

Someone broke into a gas station at 31st and Yale overnight. A woman was putting gas in her car when she saw a man shatter the glass door and run inside. He got away with a couple of cases of beer.

Tulsa Police say the store is without power, so it was not staffed at the time of the break-in.

A smash and grab happened at the Rent-A-Center at 31st and 108th East Avenue overnight. Tulsa Police say a security guard discovered a glass door knocked out and some items missing.

About the same time, a police officer stopped an El Camino for speeding at 51st and Darlington and found some of the items believed to be taken from the store. The suspects in the car were arrested.

Police are checking to see if they were involved in the burglary of two other Rent-A-Centers.

While Tulsa Police have extra patrols on the streets, trying to stop looters and burglars, a powerless apartment resident fires back.

"I ran into my room because I heard my window shatter, got my shotgun and pumped it. I told him not to move and he started running, grabbed at his pants and I said don't move and shot him in the butt," said homeowner Seth Baker.

Baker is on day 3 without power. He was asleep on the couch when someone smashed in his window. Baker says he thought the robber was grabbing for a gun.

The suspect was taken to a Tulsa hospital.