Business Burglaries Probed

The investigation goes on into a series of Tulsa business break-ins. Investigators now believe the cases may not be connected. News On 6 crime reporter Lori Fullbright reports alarm systems notified

Monday, October 15th 2007, 5:04 pm

By: News On 6

The investigation goes on into a series of Tulsa business break-ins. Investigators now believe the cases may not be connected. News On 6 crime reporter Lori Fullbright reports alarm systems notified police in all four cases. Officers arrested one man because while he was creative about getting into the business, he couldnâ€™t get out.

Two restaurants, a car audio place and a business supply store were hit.

The break-ins happened in east Tulsa, south Tulsa and midtown.

Glass was smashed at the restaurants, a door was pried open at the office store and they went in through the roof at the car audio place.

Things are back to business as usual at the Bill and Ruth's sub shop at 15th and Lewis after an early morning wake-up call for the store manager.

"I find the whole door was broken and the glass is all over the floor,â€ said Bill and Ruthâ€™s manager Mohammed Alshwaiyat.

They quickly got the door fixed. They don't think anything was missing, so they aren't sure if it was a case of vandalism or if it was a burglar who got scared off by the alarm.

In either case, it's a hassle, and the repairs are expensive.

"It's very frustrating. You have to come here, open up, get ready for business. Have to worry about the door being broken,â€ said Bill and Ruthâ€™s manager Mohammed Alshwaiyat.

The same thing happened at The Bistro at 101st and Yale. A rock was thrown through a window and nothing missing.

At a Staples store, someone pried up a rolling door on a back loading dock.

The approach was completely different at a car audio business near Admiral and Memorial. At that location, the burglar cut the lines and made entry from the roof.

He came in through an air conditioning vent then, after getting his stuff, he tried to get out through the backdoor in the storeroom. But, it was blocked by equipment. He tried to move some of the speakers but, found out the door was also blocked on the outside.

The owners had long ago parked a station wagon against the door to prevent anyone getting in. It also worked to prevent the burglar from getting out.

Officers arrived quickly and arrested the man.

Around 35 to 50 businesses get broken into every week in Tulsa and there are currently two detectives assigned to work those cases.

Police say probably in half the cases they get, the businesses have no alarm system or it wasn't turned on.

Watch the video: Business Burglaries Probed