January 4, 2005

New Year's burglaries investigated

By Jennifer Squires
Ashland Daily Tidings

Four downtown businesses were burglarized in the early morning hours of New Year's Day.

Break-ins at Pangea Grills and Wraps, Sister Moon, The Bead Studio and Houston's Custom Framing were reported at 2:16 a.m. Saturday. The burglar entered through a storage area above Sister Moon at 268 E. Main St., then broke holes in the sidewalls of the shop with a large shovel to enter Houston's Custom Framing and The Bead Studio. The burglar blew through a between the frame shop and Pangea Grills and Wraps.

"This block has had a history of getting vandalized in the past five years," said Tom Houston, the owner of the frame shop, which was broken into several times two years ago. "The little bit of money we do keep now, we keep it in such a discrete place, they would never find it."

The burglar stole $600 from the cash register in The Bead Studio. Joe Smith, the owner of Sister Moon, did not want to disclose the amount of money taken from his business and the owner of Pangea could not be reached for comment.

"It's interesting. It's so obvious that people were just after cash," said Sheila Burns, who owns the building and runs Bloomsbury Books just down the block. "The other thing is we don't keep cash in here and I don't think the other businesses will keep cash overnight."

Bloomsbury Books removes all of the money from the cash registers and leaves the registers open to deter potential burglars.

The break-ins resembled a Dec. 16 burglary at the law offices of Allen Drescher and JeanneLouise Vintage Clothing and Costumes, where almost $700 was taken from the cash register at the clothing store. The burglary occurred overnight when someone entered the law office and cut a 17-inch hole through the sheet rock wall in the bathroom that opened into the clothing store after making an unsuccessful attempt to break through a wood wall.

"These are the ones we really think are connected," Burns said, explaining holes in the walls are similar to the one found at the first break-in. "Somebody figured out how to break through the walls."

The burglar attempted to punch a hole between The Bead Studio and Kixx, a clothing store, but hit a brick wall. Damage estimates were not available for all of the stores.

Burns and other landlords in the area have talked about investing a security system for all of the stores on the block to help combat the repeated break-ins. Although the businesses to have alarms, the burglar on New Year's Day did not trigger them.

"I think we'll work together to secure all the buildings," Burns said.

Ashland Police Department detectives working on the case could not be reached for comment, although Burns reported a footprint was found at the crime scene.