EPD investigating burglaries at city businesses

Published 10:28 pm Thursday, October 19, 2017

Police are investigating a string of burglaries at city businesses and are asking for the public’s help.

According to the Elizabethton Police Department several businesses in different areas of the city have been broken into over the past few weeks.

“We’re looking at probably a dozen businesses just this week,” Elizabethton Police Department Investigator Todd Hamm. “They are hitting a lot of the strip mall businesses.”

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Over the past few weeks, Hamm said nearly two dozen businesses in total have reported burglaries. Evidence indicates there are at least two suspects involved in the burglaries, according to Hamm.

According to Hamm, a variety of businesses have been targeted from car lots to a computer store, to title loan and check cashing businesses. Most of the incidents have occurred at businesses located along Broad Street and West Elk Avenue, Hamm said.

In most of the cases, Hamm said the perpetrators are entering through the rear of the businesses where it is less likely they will be seen.

According to police reports, during one of the burglaries on Broad Street, a woman witnessed the incident and called 911. The woman told officers she saw two men attempting to pry open the door but the suspects fled before officers arrived. The woman was able to provide officers with a description of the suspects.

Hamm stated that most of the break-ins have occurred either very late at night or during the early morning hours before the businesses open for the day.

“If anyone sees anything suspicious during the late night or early morning hours they should call and report it,” Hamm said.

If someone witnesses a crime as it is occurring they should call 911. If someone has witnessed suspicious activity at a city business in recent weeks, they are asked to call Investigator Todd Hamm at 423-297-9002. Information can also be left anonymously by calling the Elizabethton Police Department’s Crime Stoppers Tips Line at 423-542-7574.