String of break-ins in Lenox

LENOX – The peace of the town has been shattered.

At least eight Lenox businesses have either suffered break-ins or attempted break-ins since Saturday (Feb. 16).

Colorful Stitches reported a break-in Sunday (Feb. 17), believed to have been committed the night before, while on Tuesday (Feb. 19), police responded to a tripped alarm at Evviva to find a back door had been forced open, but that no cash or items were missing.

Break-ins were discovered at Shear Design, Second Home, the dental office of Dr. Clifford Snyder and Lenox Coffee by the police on Tuesday evening. Gifted Child and That’s a Wrap reported break-ins on Wednesday morning (Feb. 20), all believed to have occurred the night before.

The pattern of these break-ins appears to be that the thief, or thieves, attempts to breaks into businesses after hours and steals any cash left in the building overnight. The thieves seem to have shown no interest in stealing goods or products.

“We will be putting in surveillance and an alarm system so that if someone does come into our building the police will be alerted,” said Shear Design owner and Lenox Board of Selectmen Chairman Kenneth L. Fowler.

Shear Design’s door was damaged Tuesday night, but the perpetrator(s) was unable to gain entry.

Mr. Fowler emphasized the importance of Lenox business owners being vigilant and protecting themselves.

“I have placed a number of phone calls to merchants in downtown Lenox…to let them know that they should be on the lookout,” said Bonnie Burton of Colorful Stitches in comments to The Beacon.

She also said she’d asked her fellow merchants to make sure their employees got to their cars safely.

Colorful Stitches had money stolen from its cash drawer and was the first business to be hit.

“We’re in the process of following up some leads that were gathered on the midnight shift,” said Lenox Police Chief Stephen O’Brien in comments to The Beacon. “We hope to bring this to a successful close pretty soon.”

Posted by Bera B. Dunau on February 20, 2013. Filed under Breaking News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry