Either there’s a coincidental substantive spike in business break-ins of late, or somebody is having a field day with liquor stores and gas station convenience centers. Either way, officials are going to the public again for information leading to the arrest of whoever is responsible for at least half a dozen crime scenes on both sides of the Michigan/Indiana border.
Berrien County Sheriff’s Detective Lt. Rick Biggart is leading the charge to round up the parties responsible for break-ins at six or more liquor stores and gas station convenience centers over the past four weeks, making the series of crimes the focus of the Crime Stoppers Crime of the Week focus this week.
Biggart and fellow investigators feel that the six attacks on local businesses in Berrien and Cass Counties here in Michigan and St. Joseph County, Indiana may be all related to one another — especially in light of the fact that each of those break-ins have targeted U.S. currency as their primary goal.
Authorities did not immediately identify which properties were hit, however at least one of them, the Red Bud Liquor Store in Buchanan has already been the focus of a previous Crime of the Week alert.
Crime Stoppers is offering up to $1,000 for information leading to the arrest of anyone affiliated with the series of break-ins currently under investigation. You can submit an anonymous tip online at www.michianacrimestoppers.com or through a link on their Facebook page. You can also still submit a tip using your smartphone by calling 1-800-342-STOP.
In at least two of the cases under investigation, large amounts of cash have disappeared, and in most of these break-ins, cash was the primary target of the thief or thieves.
