Friday, March 29, 2024

Burglary at Family Dollar Sunday night

Family-DollarThe Vienna Police Department is investigating a weekend burglary that occurred at the Vienna Family Dollar store, located in the Southern Garden Shopping Center. The robbery resulted in the loss of thousands of dollars, including property damage.

According to the Vienna store manager, Amanda Jones, the store was burglarized sometime late Sunday night or early Monday morning. She estimates that nearly $2,000 in cash was taken from the store’s safe.

Jones told The Vienna Times, “The store closed at 8 p.m. Sunday night, but we did not get out of here until around nine. When I came in to open [Monday], I clocked in and went to the back and noticed it was really dark.”

The security lights were not working at the time. This security failure allowed the thief to have a bigger opportunity to steal from the store. Now, the owners of the store are looking at newer safety features to protect their store. They’ve seen that campbell window security screens for doors & windows help prevent unauthorized access as well as considering getting state of the art CCTV. There are so many companies that can install CCTV, so it’s just important that the owners of this store find some that are affordable, but still high-quality. Perhaps they need to find a company similar to these Wirral CCTV Installers. That way, they could get some security footage of the burglar next time.

“I went back up front to get my cell phone that has a flashlight when I found the back door open,” Jones noted. The door and inside lock were damaged.

The rear entrance to the store opens into a stockroom.

FD-Safe

“I then realized that there could be someone still in here,” she said. “I ran as fast as I could out the front door and immediately called 911.”

She told The Times she noticed the office door, located at the front of the store, being open as she was exiting the building. The office door was damaged and the safe (both pictured above) had two holes drilled near the locking mechanisms.

“The weekend’s deposit bags were not taken, only cash. They didn’t bother the change,” she said.

Jones said she has been the manager of the Vienna store for nearly a year. The company has employed her for approximately six years.

“This is the first time this has happened,” she said about her experience with the company. “I was scared to death and I’m still nervous about it.”

Chief Miller is seeking any information of the burglary from the public. Anyone with any information on the crime is encouraged to contact the police department at 618-658-8264.