LIMA — A nimble thief dropped in overnight at a downtown business.
Literally.
An investigation continued Tuesday into an early-morning break-in at the Dollar General store in Lima at the intersection of Main and Kibby streets. Entry into the store was gained after the perpetrator used a crowbar to make a hole in the roof of the store and dropped down into the business.
Store employee Nikki Antus was the first to arrive at the Dollar General store at around 7:45 a.m. Tuesday. She immediately observed a panel above the store’s cigarette display was hanging from the ceiling.
“You could tell something had happened, so I called my store manager right away,” said Antus.
Store Manager Carmen McGee made her way to the store — her second trip there in less than three hours. An in-store motion detector had sent an alarm to McGee at shortly before 5:30 a.m. Tuesday, Antus said. McGee reportedly did a drive-by and noticed nothing out of the ordinary.
Antus said the intruder is clearly visible on the store’s surveillance video.
“He wasn’t wearing a mask and his face was exposed” to the camera, she said. “You can see him on the video moving around in the store. He cut a hole in our roof and came through it, and then left the same way. On the video you can see him struggling to get out.”
Antus said cigarettes and other tobacco products were believed to be the only things taken during the theft.
Lt. Andy Green of the Lima Police Department said a K-9 unit was sent to the scene in an attempt to track the suspect. Green said two individuals were brought in for questioning but were not believed to have been involved in the incident.
“There has been no suspect identified at this point,” Green said.
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