AL police department: Best Buy theft valued in the hundreds of thousands of dollars
By HAL SCHEURICH
Click here for updates on this story
SPANISH FORT, Alabama (WALA) — It’s been nearly a week since some bold thieves broke into the Spanish Fort Best Buy store, stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars-worth of merchandise. Police say they continue to work leads but so far, no arrests have been made. Wednesday, December 1, 2021 they released some more surveillance video, asking the public to offer an opinion on the department’s Facebook page.
“We’ve been looking at the video quite a bit. I spent the morning watching the videos,” said Spanish Ft. Police Chief, John Barber. “We really want to solve this case, so there’s been some debate over the gender of one or both of the suspects and so, I thought that it would be interesting to think what the public thought.”
Calculated, methodical and with little concern is how police describe the overnight break-in at Best Buy last week. The newly released video shows two burglars crawling along the floor, presumedly to not trigger alarm sensors. The thieves spent more than two hours in the store, targeting very particular merchandise. Most of it was Apple products.
“It was over three hundred items that they stole out of this store and as far as the dollar amount, significant…multiple six figures,” Barber said.
It’s what wasn’t taken from the store that gives investigators hope in solving the crime. The ladder used to enter the store from the roof, reported stolen from a business in Mobile. A large quantity of tools, some of which police said also have ties to Mobile. Investigators said another key in solving this crime could be the white Ford, 15-passenger van used by the burglars. The tag was stolen but there are only so many vans of this type in the area.
“That’s the kind of van you see at daycares. It’s a van you see at churches, where somebody might have had access to it, used it and put it back,” explained Barber. “Somebody might realize…hey, you know, when I got in my van that next day, it was missing half a tank of gas or they saw a piece of cardboard that just didn’t look right. Something that’s out of place where somebody makes the connection.”
Barber said on average, only 18 to 20 percent of burglary cases get solved but that in this case, there were enough breadcrumbs left behind to give him optimism. He’s also convinced this is an isolated case and that the suspects are local.
“We believe that this is going to be somebody within this region. This side of the bay, other side of the bay…we’re not sure,” said Barber. “We’re working on that, but at this point, we do not believe that it’s just a random group that’s working the interstate. It’s possible. Anything’s possible but everything’s leading us back to somebody with inside knowledge around this area.”
Investigators believe there are more than just the two suspects seen inside the store who are involved in this burglary. If you have any information about the theft, call Spanish Fort Police.
Please note: This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.
