The staff at the ACE Hardware store located at 22nd St. and Kolb Rd. cleaned up piles of broken glass following a smash and grab robbery overnight Wednesday.
Security footage shows two people smashing a glass door in the front of the store with a small sledgehammer and then running inside. Cameras captured the hooded figures running through the maze of shelves and displays to tall glass cases containing expensive knives and gun scopes. They broke the display case's glass and loaded dozens of knives and scopes into their bags.
“Probably anywhere from $10,000 to $20,000 worth of knives,” General Manager Joe Findysz described the potential loss for his store.
Employees suspect the two robbers cased the store before the crime because after breaking the front door they made a direct run to the back of the store and then ran back out without grabbing anything else.
Findysz's family has owned this popular ACE Hardware store for decades. He says, unfortunately, break-ins are part of business.
“Just the way the world is going,” he lamented.
However, Findysz says this crime sticks out to him because of what was not working during the robbery. The phone services to the building was not operating during the break-in and he wonders if these criminals are more sophisticated than they appear.
“A little more serious than kids breaking a window and getting stuff and leaving, it’s a little more involved,” Findysz said.
Now, the store plans to buy reinforced doors and an upgraded security system.
