THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, June 14, 1994 TAG: 9406140333
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: By MIKE MATHER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: 940614 LENGTH: NORFOLK
But one of the burglars lost his ball cap in a collision with a set of electronic wind chimes.
{REST} Besides the purple hat, police now have evidence they can use to identify the suspects - namely, a videotape of the pair in action.
Detectives in three cities are investigating at least a dozen similar burglaries at area Radio Shacks since January. In most cases, a front door or window was smashed with a brick or concrete block, police said.
One Norfolk store was burgled three times in one week, police spokesman Larry Hill said.
Police on Monday released the tape that shows two men frantically snatching the electronics and speeding off in a small car. .
In the videotape, the suspects are seen pacing outside the store for a few moments. Then, one appears to grab a cinder block from the car's front seat. He throws it at the lower half of the door, shattering it, and then kicks a hole in the remaining shards of safety glass.
As the second man stoops through the small opening, his hat gets knocked off. He quickly bends to pick it up, pulls it over his tightly cropped hair, and then runs smack into the hanging chime, knocking his hat off again. This time, he leaves the cap.
When he grabs a television, the hatless man's face passes so close to a security camera that his grimacing mug fills the entire frame. When the hatless man has trouble squeezing through the shattered opening with the TV, his companion shoves him through.
Police and a Radio Shack official compiled a partial list of the stores that have been burgled from January through Sunday (see list, above).
Anyone with information about the burglaries is asked to call 427-0000 in Virginia Beach; 441-5100 in Norfolk; or 487-1234 in Chesapeake.
{KEYWORDS} ROBBERY BURGLARY
by CNB