On the evening of May 9, 2004 thieves stole a green Dodge Neon. It’s another chapter in my retail past. I can’t believe it’s been five years already. But for me this particular story actually starts May 10, 2004. That’s the morning I went to work and found the front entrance to the store boarded up. Circuit City was open for business, but there was damage.
Thieves broke into the store in the middle of the night. Actually, they crashed into the store. There’s no better way to spend a Sunday evening than laying siege to the local Circuit City. After the thieves stole the car they proceeded to crash into the front of the store.
Police say thieves used a Dodge Neon to smash into the front of a Circuit City in north Charlotte on Saturday. Concrete barriers were put in specifically to stop cars and trucks from being able to rob the store by smashing through the glass doors, but police say the thieves drove around them and squeezed the car through a narrow walkway, which was 72 inches wide.
When the engineers designed the Dodge Neon I’m sure they didn’t realize that one of the best features of the car (there weren’t many) was the ability to bypass concrete barriers. The car was so small the thieves just drove around. It was tight fit, but it allowed the thieves to break in and start grabbing merchandise. I wish I had the video footage. It was funny watching the men run into the store.
This wasn’t an organized break in. Don’t picture the ex-presidents from Point Break. There weren’t guys running around with ex-president masks. Yes, some wore masks but the footage I watched had more of a “riot feel” to me. It was a five minute shop-till-you-drop dash. Considering the nature of the break-in they didn’t steal that much stuff. They broke into one of the digital camera cases, but only took the cheap stuff. I guess they were in such a rush they forgot to go after the big brands. In total they only got away with a couple of thousand of dollars worth of merchandise.
There were probably four people involved in the break-in and if they sold the goods they made less than $500 each. That’s a lot of hassle for $500. Stealing the right car, finding the right store, and crashing into the building. In the end, the execution was missing. They should have grabbed laptops. Obviously this wasn’t the work of geniuses, but it’s another grand chapter in my retail stories.
Recent Comments