Thieves hit Beech Grove Firearms store again
BEECH GROVE, Ind. (WISH) — Thieves attempted to steal thousands of dollars worth of guns at Beech Grove Firearms, but their efforts were thwarted.
In an interview with News 8, owner Greg Burge showed surveillance video of two would-be robbers outside his gun store around 6 a.m. on Friday morning. One man threw a planter at the double-paned glass door. When it didn’t break the glass, he threw a large brick.
That broke one of the front glass doors, scattering pieces on the concrete ground. The robbers couldn’t get inside because another metal door stood between the now broken door and the guns.
“Even though they gave it their best try, they didn’t get in the store,” Burge said. “Nothing was stolen. Our security features did their job. Now we’re just left with, as you can see, a mess to clean up this morning.”
The two men went around the building and attempted to kick a back door. They were joined by their getaway driver, but the kicks weren’t strong enough to break through the steel door.
Burge said this has been the store’s 5th or 6th robbery or attempted robbery in the past three years.
The store opened 16 years ago, and the crimes have been escalating these past few years. Burge has since implemented 27 cameras and concrete barriers to prevent thieves from crashing cars or trucks into his store. That’s happened once before. Thieves stole nearly $30,000 worth of firearms.
“If the burglar succeeded in getting into this gun store ,the damage that could be inflicted is massive because these guns gets scattered across the United States like skittles,” Burge said.
Burge knows first-hand the damage caused by illegal guns as a former retired police officer. So, he’s asking for stronger legislation and harsher punishment for gun theft as a way to prevent crimes like this.
“It’s not just our gun store that deals with this epidemic,” Burge said.
Burge and his wife has implemented as many security measures as they can. Their shop is located just feet away from the police department.
“I don’t know what more we can do,” Burge said.
The broken door will cost them a few hundred dollars.