Burglars knock holes in walls during raid

By NICO SCAVELLA

THIEVES broke into Home Furniture Company Limited in Palmdale and attempted to steal a safe before making off with electronics and two company vehicles, according to store Credit Manager James Roberts.

It is believed the robbery took place between Sunday afternoon and yesterday morning.

Mr Roberts said he got a call around 7:30am yesterday from another store owner that security guards saw one of Home Furniture’s moving trucks and the company car leaving the area.

When Mr Roberts arrived at Home Furniture, he said no one was there except for “a few employees”.

After inspecting the property, he saw two large holes in the store’s rear walls.

He said he later noticed that the burglars had made another hole into an office to gain access to the store’s alarm panel which was ripped out. This gave them unrestricted movement in the building.

The main target appeared to have been a large safe.

It appeared as though the thieves tried to open the safe with a saw and blowtorch, but were unable to get inside. Then, they apparently tried to remove the safe using a forklift that was removed from the store’s warehouse; the same forklift Mr Roberts said may have been used to bore a hole in the rear wall for the safe to fit through.

The plan failed, however, when the forklift apparently got stuck in the dirt, which prompted the burglars to break in and operate a flatbed truck from a nearby store, the Shoe Depot, to try to pull the forklift out.

When that failed, the burglars stole merchandise from the store and made off in Home Furniture’s moving truck and company car.

According to Mr Roberts, half a dozen to a dozen high-definition televisions were stolen along with a few stereos. He said, however, that the true number of stolen items was still unknown at the time because the robbers also stole items from their warehouse.

He also said that the safe contained nothing but “count cards” and “mainly paperwork”.

Based on the placement of the holes and the fact that they managed to avoid tripping the alarm, many of the other employees, including Mr Roberts believe that the burglars intimately knew the set up of the store.

“They (burglars) must be either familiar or knowledgeable of our alarm systems, because they avoided the motion detectors, they avoided the contacts on the doors,” Mr Roberts said. “Apparently they didn’t open any doors until they ripped out the alarm, which in my mind should have sent a signal to the alarm system because they go back and forth. We got one call just after 5 Sunday morning saying that the southwest door was opened, but after that nothing.”

Mr Roberts said that it’s going to cost “quite a bit of money” to repair all of the damage and the alarm system, and hoped to have the store reopened today. However, after taking the necessary precautionary measures to prevent burglaries, Mr Roberts said there’s very little that he can do at this point to prevent more thefts.

“What can you do? You have alarms, you have cement walls, you have your gates chained too. What else can you do?” he said. “No matter what (you) do, a thief spends more time than you planning how to get by what you have, than you have the money or the time to prevent them. The only way to prevent them is if we had armed guards (here).”

According to Mr Roberts, Home Furniture was plagued with break-ins and vandalisation over the years.

Mr Roberts said police told him yesterday that the company’s truck was located off Montrose Avenue, devoid of the stolen goods and without a trace of the burglars. The truck was returned to the premises, but the car was not found up to press time.

Mr Roberts told The Tribune he is “thankful” that no one was hurt during the robbery and said even though operations were shut down yesterday, he acknowledged that things could have been worse.

“I’m just thankful to God it happened at night when no one was here, so no one was hurt,” Mr Roberts said. “Material things can be replaced; lives can’t. It’s very upsetting, but I’m just glad that no one was hurt.”

Comments

bahamian242 says...

Start looking at your alarm company! It was someone from there. They have the knowledge of the system, and know where the control box is located. Also the person monitoring the the alarm system at the alarm company is most likely involved, because if you lose the signal from an establishment, and no code shows up who entered the premises the Police should be called immediately along withe the key holders of the establishment! The system has failed through human help!

Posted 26 August 2014, 2:12 p.m. Suggest removal

Well_mudda_take_sic says...

Just accept that it's time to retire in the U.S. white man as so many of you already have ....... shut it all down and tell your black employees it's time for them to find a corrupt black businessman who Christie allows to suck generously on the teat of Public Treasury until it is soon sucked dry and there ain't no more free milk at the expense of hard working honest Bahamians!

Posted 26 August 2014, 2:55 p.m. Suggest removal

asiseeit says...

Not just white people are leaving, the middle class is in full flight. I know a family that moved last week to the U.K., sad to see good people go but who can blame them. They want better for their children!

Posted 26 August 2014, 6:56 p.m. Suggest removal

sansoucireader says...

That's a story right there for The TRIBUNE to investigate. Are Bahamians relocating? More than usual? What are the numbers?
Why? I'm noticing more and more 'For Sale' signs on New Providence.

Posted 26 August 2014, 9:27 p.m. Suggest removal

bahamian242 says...

Racist! If this was the US you could be charged and sued also along w/the Tribune!

Posted 28 August 2014, 8:04 p.m. Suggest removal

The_Oracle says...

Sorry to hear about this, The Home Furniture Store has ben around a long time, and has helped innumerable Bahamians with financing Furniture and appliances Decades before the commercial banks started lending Bahamians money.
Whether An Alarm company Employee or staff member, or just thieves off the street,
it speaks to Society in general.
Learned from the top down,
hard to unlearn or stop.

Posted 26 August 2014, 3:39 p.m. Suggest removal

themessenger says...

Amen to that Oracle, stealing and dishonesty is the only culture we have nowadays from top to bottom.

Posted 26 August 2014, 3:49 p.m. Suggest removal

asiseeit says...

Stealing is ingrained in the Bahamian thought process and way of life. For some odd reason a Bahamian see's theft as their right and as morally acceptable. I believe they think Jesus himself was a thief, that is how ingrained stealing is in the Bahamas. From the top down, if a Bahamian can get their hands on what is not theirs, they will take it without a second thought 100% of the time. It does not matter what or where or even if they need or want what it is, Bahamians will steal it, fact! Welcome to the Cristian nation known as the Bahamas! <---- Jokes for days, a sad one for sure, but one has to laugh or cry!

Posted 26 August 2014, 6:53 p.m. Suggest removal

carmichaelrdgal says...

A big company like this should have security camera everywhere. also mini one in different areas that thieves don't even know is camera. Wisenup people. Even in our homes we have to seek more securities cause no one give a dam about their neighbor these days, No one see nothing.

Posted 27 August 2014, 5:26 a.m. Suggest removal

ThisIsOurs says...

this crew was determined and prepared. They also knew the security infrastructure. They would have prepared for cameras too. Security equipment is a only deterrent. Pity they didn't put their planning skills and effort into something virtuous. Gonna get worse with VAT

Posted 27 August 2014, 5:57 a.m. Suggest removal

bahamian242 says...

Cameras are there! They also stole Multiplex! So that's that!!!

Posted 27 August 2014, 2:48 p.m. Suggest removal

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