At 2:39 am, January 15, a masked man broke through the back door of Nibbles (I know because I watched the video with the police!). Previous to breaking in the suspect, and most likely a couple of partners, cut through the roof to the main control area of the shopping center and cut all phone lines to the building. Police believe that a few people were involved and each broke into a store in the shopping center.
At Nibbles, the robber spent 13 minutes leisurely walking through, looking in cabinets, closets, the deli case, the ice machine, the refrigerator and freezer. He also looked under folded rags on a shelf - we aren't sure what he thought he would find. He finally went through the cash register drawer where he found a small sum of cash. He exited the same door he had entered.
The jewelry store, dry cleaners and deli were also hit. The jewelry store sustained the most damage as the robbers broke through their front window and were able to take some of their merchandise.
Interestingly, the police who usually patrol our shopping center were busy at a local fire and their back up was called out to a domestic violence call at the same time as our robbery. Hmmm, a coincidence? Maybe not?
Police closed down the stores all day Thursday and collected evidence, including video footage from Nibbles camera (and my DNA!). They are hoping they were able to get more information from specimans taken through out Nibbles and the other stores. But the robbers wore gloves and masks and seemed to know what they were doing (except they didn't really make a good decision about what stores to rob - they didn't get very much for all their efforts).
We really wish that Superman could have stopped in during the robbery and saved the day! And we are very sorry that he wasn't able to spend the morning at Nibbles.
Hopefully, our local superheroes - the Wheeling police - will be able to solve this crime.....
Reporter - Kathleen
