Crime & Safety

Thieves Targeting Doylestown Businesses

Police are investigating six recent burglary attempts but have few leads in the cases.

Downtown Doylestown business owners might want to remove even the petty cash from their shops for awhile, at least until police catch those responsible for recent burglaries.

Thieves broke into at least three downtown Doylestown businesses last weekend and tried to break into three more, police said Thursday.

One of the offices even was burglarized twice - once last weekend and once on Wednesday, they said.

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The police are treating the six burglaries as if they are all connected, Chief Jim Donnelly said Thursday. So far, they have little evidence to go on, he said.

“These happened mostly during the night and there are no witnesses at all,” he said. “We’ve recovered some prints and sent them off to the state police, but they’re partials. So far, we have no information on them at all.”

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Donnelly said the thieves clearly are targeting businesses and offices in the downtown area. The targeted businesses have included retail shops, doctors’ and psychologists’ offices, beauty parlors and more, according to police reports.

One of the recent break-ins was to , Doylestown’s independent children’s bookseller.

Police said someone entered the store through an unsecured side window and stole about $130 from the cash register. It happened sometime between 5:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 15 and 12:42 a.m. on Sunday, Oct. 16, they said.

Owner Ellen Mager said Thursday that she wasn’t in the store at the time. She said she has since spoken to the building’s landlord to get the lock on the side window changed.

“Obviously, it wasn't locking correctly,” she said.

The second burglary was to a S. Main Street barbershop. Police said someone entered the shop through an unsecured window and stole about $61 from a desk drawer. It happened sometime between 3:15 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 15 and 7:35 a.m. on Monday Oct. 17, police said.

The third burglary was to a S. Main Street office. Police said someone removed a screen to get through an unsecured window and stole about $10 from a desk drawer. That happened between 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, Oct. 15 and 1:20 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 17, police said.

That same office was broken into again Wednesday night between 6:45 p.m. and 11:48 p.m. This time, the subjects broke a window on the side of the building to get in. They took about $32 from a desk drawer.

Three other attempted burglaries were reported that same weekend:

A representative from a S. Main Street animal clinic reported that someone attempted to enter the building by pushing in a window air conditioning unit sometime between 7:00 PM on Sunday, Oct. 16 and 7:35 a.m. on Monday, Oct. 17.

A representative from a S. Main Street art studio reported that someone attempted to enter the business by pushing in a window air conditioning unit sometime between 5:00 PM on Friday, Oct. 14 and 7:35 a.m. on Monday, Oct. 17.

Someone removed a window screen from a S. Main Street physician’s office in a suspected attempt at entering the building. The incident occurred sometime between 4:30 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 14 and 12 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 17.

Though the police have few leads right now, Donnelly said the thieves will slip up soon.

“We’ll eventually catch them,” he said. “If they continue to do this, they’ll get caught.”

Anyone with any information on the burglaries is asked to call the Doylestown Borough Police Department at 215-345-4143.


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