BY GREG JOHNSON
Frontiersman
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A group of area teens would have been better off following this last advice early Saturday morning when they were tagged for committing a rash of burglaries shortly after breaking into a local memorabilia store.
Wasilla police and Alaska State Troopers responded to a burglary at Wayne's World of Collectibles where the store's front door was smashed in, said Officer Alexander Wysocki of the Wasilla Police Department. A cash register, cards and memorabilia were stolen.
While cleaning up after the break-in, a pair of helpers at the store noticed some teens hanging out in the former Prudential building at the corner of Swanson and Parks Highway, said Wayne McGregor, owner of Wayne's World of Collectibles.
“While I was gone [reporting the incident] they looked around figuring the cash register couldn't have gone far,” he said. “They happened to walk past that building and noticed kids in there.”
When police investigated the building, they found three 16-year-olds and two 18-year-old adults in the building, along with evidence from that night's and other recent burglaries that have taken place over the past two weeks, Wysocki said. In addition to items from the collectibles shop, food from a burglary at the Hostess bakery was found, along with evidence from break-ins at Arctic Beauty Supply and Tub & Tan.
“Items from all the burglaries were located there [in the building],” Wysocki said, adding more may have been involved and police are continuing to investigate.
Upon entering the former Prudential building, police found teens hanging out there had performed “very extensive damage” to the building, roughly estimated at about $100,000, Wysocki said.
“There is not a piece of drywall that's not broken, windows, doors paint - just about anything you can think of they damaged,” he said. “I don't know if they were living there, but they were clearly destroying the place. There was broken beer bottles and food from the bakery.”
Although police continue to investigate and no formal charges have been filed, one of the teens found at the scene early Saturday has confessed, Wysocki said.
For McGregor, it's time to clean up and open as soon as possible. For a small business, a break-in can be devastating, he said.
“They got a lot of stuff,” he said. “They cleared out my whole single sports cards and single gaming cards, a lot of unopened boxes of cards and the cash register.”
The register, which was recovered, had about $140 in it, but the value of the stolen cards is about $5,000 to $6,000, McGregor said. Many of the stolen items were found, but were damaged or totally ruined.
Because of the nature of his business, McGregor caters to teens, who hang out at his place to play games and check out the latest sports cards or super hero memorabilia.
“What hurts the most is a lot of these kids have hung out at my place and have for years,” he said. “It could put a store like mine out, and it would be a loss to them, because this was a place they'd hang out.”
McGregor is insured and said he is pleased with how Wasilla police and troopers have handled the report and investigation.
Contact Greg Johnson at 352-2268 or greg.johnson@frontiersman.com.
Comments
25 comment(s)anita wrote on Mar 7, 2009 4:08 PM:
you have the right to judge? u must not have a life, or anyone in your family who have had altercations in their youth that made them grow up, and furthermore, the thing that matters, is, if they turn out to be useful good members of society, right? are u perfect? exactly! "
Gerry Ardo wrote on Nov 15, 2008 1:59 PM:
jill wrote on Nov 5, 2008 6:15 AM:
LMAO wrote on Oct 28, 2008 9:04 PM:
The Truth wrote on Oct 5, 2008 11:48 AM:
Michigan Lady wrote on Oct 5, 2008 8:48 AM:
Michiganvoter wrote on Oct 1, 2008 5:53 PM:
Marci Bereu wrote on Sep 24, 2008 3:25 PM:
The report is true, including going into the army to avoid jail. I'm sure strings can be pulled for kids of VIP parents. "
Steve McAdam wrote on Sep 16, 2008 4:19 PM:
California Gal wrote on Sep 16, 2008 3:23 PM:
Doug Polcin wrote on Sep 14, 2008 9:49 AM:
Will wrote on Sep 13, 2008 6:31 PM:
Log Dog wrote on Sep 11, 2008 2:27 PM:
Fran wrote on Sep 11, 2008 12:32 PM:
DEMSWRONG wrote on Sep 10, 2008 4:15 PM:
Rock Roll wrote on Sep 9, 2008 9:42 AM:
wes wrote on Sep 8, 2008 8:08 AM:
Jay wrote on Sep 6, 2008 4:58 PM:
Sue wrote on Sep 6, 2008 1:14 AM:
Foobar wrote on Sep 5, 2008 2:59 PM:
The entire Palin family is like a well-dressed episode of Jerry Springer. "
MrUniteUs wrote on Sep 5, 2008 5:31 AM:
Was Sarah Palin's son "Track Palin" arrested for vandalism ... Most recently there is discussion that Track Palin, then 16, was one of the 3 boys arrested for vandalizing 44 Mat-Su school buses - an incident that forced ...
answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080904193702AAGlSCL - "
aklocal wrote on Sep 2, 2008 8:07 PM:
Destyne Pope wrote on Feb 12, 2008 4:20 AM:
vacation wrote on Jan 30, 2008 12:39 PM:
Thank you! "
Nyakeh Sam Suale wrote on Nov 14, 2007 10:59 AM: