SARASOTA, FL – A series of burglaries in Sarasota County and Manatee County, Fla. showed five masked suspects breaking into a chain of vape shops. Video footage at Ignite Vapors shows the suspects fired multiple shots into the businesses to break in. After one shot, one of the suspects fired again to break the glass of the storefront.
A cash register was stolen as well as some of the vape shop’s products. The Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office noted that this tactic was unusual, given the loud nature of gunshots.
“Maybe he thinks it’s the fastest way, but that seems to be the only reason that would happen because it certainly is a noisy way,” said Dana Judge with the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office. “He seems pretty agile because he’s jumped over counters in some of the videos, he jumped over a concrete wall to escape over the back of one of the stores.”
Notably, the shops were also located fairly close to residential areas, and the crimes occurred at night.
This is the kind of story that reminds all readers, business owners and concealed carriers alike, that having firearms and being well-trained with them is only one aspect of home and business defense. Fortunately, this business also set up security cameras to catch the criminals. Hopefully, as the investigation continues, the perpetrators will be brought to justice.
Consider setting up a front doorbell camera to your home or business. Maybe set up a security system or add additional barricades to doors and points of entry. However, in this case, the thieves were determined and were going to break the law regardless of how many precautions the business takes.
