Serial Burglar Strikes Beer Distributors In Bensalem & NE Philadelphia
By Elizabeth Hur
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - The search is on for the person behind a one man burglary spree in Northeast Philadelphia and Bensalem.
The bandit struck at least four times and each time, he is caught on tape.
Don Hajdari of Pennypack Beer Distributor explained, "You can actually see in the video, he takes a big rock, takes a few runs at it, smashes it and he must have been in there 4-5 minutes."
Sgt. Dennis Rosenbaum added, "It's all between 1-5am and under the cover of darkness."
Police say all four times, surveillance cameras were rolling and caught the suspect's every move.
On August 2, 2012 at 12:50am, the suspect is seen on tape smashing the front door glass of Krewstown Beverage located at 8900 Krewstown Road with a cinder brick. Once inside, the suspect took an undetermined amount of cigarettes. Moments before the burglary, the suspect was captured on surveillance video inside the WAWA located at 8900 Krewstown Road which shares the same building.
On August 6, 2012 at 5:50am, Bensalem Police say the suspect broke into the Suds beer store 2401 Lincoln Hwy. The suspect is described as a white male in his late 30's who at the time of this burglary was wearing a white t-shirt, blue jeans and tan boots. He stole over $4,500 worth of cigarettes and a six pack of Miller Lite.
On August 8, 2012 at 4:35am, the suspect was captured on surveillance video smashing the side door glass of the Pennypack Beer Distributor located at 8120 Roosevelt Boulevard with a brick. Once inside, the suspect took $150 in cash and an undetermined amount of lottery tickets. The suspect then fled on foot in an unknown direction.
On August 9, 2012 at 3:20am, the suspect entered CVS Pharmacy located at 3811 Neshaminy Boulevard. The male gained entry by utilizing broken asphalt to smash the front door glass of the business. After stealing cartons of cigarettes, Kodak digital cameras and pay as you go cell phones he fled the scene.
Police say the suspect had a distinct looking birthmark on the right side of his lower back and also had a gauze pad taped on his back which appears to be covering a tattoo.
"That's some broken glass that's obviously left over. It's just an inconvenience. The way I see it is, no one got hurt and that's the main thing," Hajdari said.
While no one's been hurt, police say they are not taking any chances.
Sgt. Rosenbaum explained, "You never know what he might do. We never know what his rationale is or what his thinking is. Most will run, burglars are usually non violent, non-confrontational and when confronted they'll just run out but you never know who you're dealing with."
Anyone with information is asked to call Philadelphia Police Department's Northeast Detective Division at 215-686-3153/3154 or Bensalem Police at 215-633-3645.
