Store break-ins worry downtown

A downtown arts and crafts shop was burglarized Tuesday night, and downtown business people urge residents and visitors to be alert following the second such incident in less than three months.
Teri Schindler, owner of The Raggedy Heart, 17450 Monterey Road, got to work about 10 a.m. Wednesday to find the shop’s side door surrounded by Morgan Hill police officers.
They were investigating the break-in that happened overnight, Schindler said.
The burglar or burglars committed what Sgt. Troy Hoefling referred to as a “smash and grab.” They broke the glass on the side door, which opens into an alley between Schindler’s place and the building next door. The thief or thieves entered through the opening created by the broken glass, grabbed the entire cash register and left the store with it.
Schindler said about $140 was inside the stolen cash register.
The store owner added that the suspect or suspects did not trip the store’s alarm because they did not reach into the broken glass and open the door from the inside. Instead, it looked like the walked through the hole in the broken glass.
The cash register was on a counter about eight feet from the side door. Shards of glass were still scattered on the floor inside the store Wednesday afternoon.
Schindler said the alleyway next to her store is always well-lit, and she has never felt threatened while walking through the area.
Morgan Hill Downtown Association executive director Theresa Kiernan said after the incident and a similar smash-and-grab at the Candy Parlour in December, she is concerned about businesses downtown.
“140 bucks means a lot to these small stores down here,” Kiernan said. “None of us have any control over what people choose to do. But if you’re out and you notice anything unusual, make the phone call” to the police.
The suspect who burglarized the Candy Parlour, 17400 Monterey Road, Dec. 5 made off with a flat-screen television, according to store owner Chris Reynolds. That burglar forced open the front door, which was locked at the time by a single deadbolt.
Footage from his security video shows the suspect was “in and out in less than 40 seconds,” Reynolds said.
Police do not have any suspects for either incident, Hoefling said.