44°
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
7 Day Forecast
Follow our weather team on social media

6 Denham Springs businesses hit in burglary spree

8 years 4 months 2 weeks ago Tuesday, November 03 2015 Nov 3, 2015 November 03, 2015 6:45 PM November 03, 2015 in News
Source: WBRZ
By: Troy Gaulden

DENHAM SPRINGS - After a rash of business burglaries in Denham Springs the past few weeks, police are on the hunt for the thieves responsible.

The burglars have broken into at least six businesses in the Antique District using rocks and bricks to break through glass doors and windows. They are then scrambling to find cash, sometimes leaving with cash registers in hand. Surveillance video shows the two hooded crooks wearing gloves while breaking into the Denham Springs Beauty College.

Business owners say they are fed up with the burglars causing thousands of dollars in damages only to steal a handful of cash.

"Well it's becoming too rampant, and they're going to get caught. There's too much of it going on," said John Benton. "It's frustrating that you have to replace what was broken, and that's a certain expense. Then you have to clean up what they left. It's a mess, just aggravating."

The burglaries started in mid-October with Crowder Antiques. The thieves used a ladder to climb through a window after breaking it with a rock from railroad tracks nearby.

"I think it's probably drugs, but I don't know. My guess is they're trying to get enough money for another fixing, but it could be kids that are copycatting. It could be anything," said business owner Charles Crowder.

Investigators say they collected what could be a blood sample from a piece of shattered glass at Benton's Antique Mall. Investigators say the thieves have broken into Crowder Antiques, Benton Brothers, Whistle Stop Cafe, Bee's Knees Clothing, Denham Springs Beauty College, Quick N Handy Cleaners and Hot Wok in the past several weeks. Those burglaries could all be linked to the same crooks, according to investigators.

"There's plenty of jobs out there. They don't pay $100 an hour of course. They're low paying jobs, but you walk up and down the street and see how many help wanted signs there are," said Crowder. "They're probably minimum wage, but that's better than what they got here."

The Denham Springs Police Department has beefed up patrols in the Antique District. There is also a $1,000 reward for information leading to an arrest.

More News

Desktop News

Click to open Continuous News in a sidebar that updates in real-time.
Radar
7 Days