GRAY, Maine — Police are searching for a man who allegedly used a saw to cut a hole in the wooden wall of a Big Apple store here and stole thousands of dollars in cigarettes.
Lt. Donald Foss of the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office said the store’s manager showed up just after 4 a.m. Monday and discovered the basketball-sized hole in the wall directly behind where the cigarettes are kept behind the counter.
Police don’t have a description of the suspect, Foss said.
“It’s unlikely that there is video [surveillance] simply because the suspect didn’t actually gain entry,” said Foss, noting the suspect reached through the hole he cut and took the cigarettes.
“He didn’t need to put both feet inside the store,” Foss said.
The cigarette cartons were valued at between $55 and $75 each, according to Foss.
Guess that guy has a bad cigarette addiction.
or to re- sell for another ‘ addiction.’ Which is what I bet that is the case.
You’re probably right. I wouldn’t doubt it.
Maybe if the store was open 24 hours, he/she would have entered through the main door.
How wide was the hole? – it might help rule out all the 400 lb blimps in town, which would be a start.
Suspect did not enter the store, just reached in and snagged the cigarettes
good one…. i wonder if the cops will figure it out
Look at the video for the past 10 days with a stronger concentration the past 3, monitor the people that take a special interest in hanging out by the area the hole was cut. They probably started up a conversation with the clerk. They are clearly a regular of the store. Then run a background check on the suspects you uncover from the video. You will find the person that did this has probably more than one B&E on his record. Then go lean on the suspects starting with the most obvios first. Someone will crack.
Either that or just wait for a rat to spill it. Rats always work and someone that has “thousands of dollars” worth of smokes will be stupid enough to get caught.
A “basketball sized hole”…..a bb is normally just under 30 inches in circumference…..that should limit the suspect pool to most likely anyone weighing less than approx. 150 lbs…..should eliminate any adult female in the area then…..
Since the culprit only put one hand or perhaps at worse an arm in the hole, someone that weighs 300 pounds could have managed this caper.
Suspect did not enter the store, just reached in through the hole.
“He didn’t need to put both feet inside the store”…..it may seem that more than just a hand went thru the hole though in order to see what was being grabbed…..maybe, maybe not…..anyhow pretty clever…..makes one wonder how the “unsub” knew where to do the cutting in the first place……
If you’ve been inside a building with an interior layout as simple as a convenience store’s, it doesn’t take an engineering degree to work out which walls things are on the other side of.
Exactly the point Sherlock……one could easily surmise the person may be familiar with the inside layout of the particular store……
Sure, I’m just saying it’s not particularly hard to become familiar with the inside layout of a convenience store. It’s not exactly a feat on par with planning the escape from Alcatraz. :)
hummmm, did some one know the layout of the store?
I would imagine
Wouldnt surprise me if it was a crack head that sent there child in to do the dirty work !
Couldn’t have been a female. Most Maine women’s arms are bigger than a basketball sized hole.
Speak for yourself “April”
A theft is a theft, but give this person credit for being creative. It had to be well thought out. Once he/she starts bragging about it though, the county jail won’t be far away.
actually there is different thefts… depending on criminal history and a few other circumstances, in this case (if caught), the subject will be charged with grand theft as the price was over a thousand dollars, if it had been less it would have been petty theft,.. at the same time, the police have no video, no description and unless dna or prints are somehow on the wall, probably have no evidence as well… but then again, shouldn’t be too too hard to find someone around town that has more cigarettes than they do groceries or whatever…
Most rats know that method of getting through a wall.
Got to give credit to the theif for thinking this one up. Very clever. Seems to me a vehicle was needed to carry off thousands of dollars worth of smokes though ! What kind of saw was used to do this , no noise is fishy. Hope the crook or crooks get caught soon. Getting away with this will only encourage the perp/perps. Just prooves that some folks will go to great lengths to avoid paying high prices for this stuff.
one happy smoker!!
He’ll need some something connected to a compressor, not a key hole saw, to make his way out of where he’s going when they catch him.
I wonder if the police found a wrinkled poster of “Fuzzy Britches” (Raquel Welch) taped over the hole.