HOUSTON – Houston police are searching for three burglars who used a sledgehammer to smash in and rob a comic book and toy store on the west side.
They moved in fast and made quick work of the burglary job. Surveillance video shows a sledge hammer flying into the store after the thieves smash through the front door of The Pop Culture Company store on the Katy Freeway near Kirkwood Road early Tuesday morning.
"It didn't seem like they really had so much as a specific agenda," store owner Robert Quijano said. "Other than, 'We're going to get the register and look for a safe and whatever else we can get.'"
The crooks were in the store for just three minutes but managed to get away with a cash register, a small safe in the back room, and also a laptop and a tablet. Quijano is surprised but thankful his treasured merchandise of action figures and comic books largely were left untouched. But for this small business owner the damage was costly.
"It looks to be somewhere in the neighborhood, something between maybe $7,000 or $8,000 worth of damage," Quijano said.
Quijano also is grateful the burglars struck when no one was inside the store. But he believes if they aren't caught they will strike another business or home.
"This is obviously what they do," Quijano said. "I get up in the morning, I come to work, I sell comic books. They get up in the evening and they go out and they steal things from people."
Surveillance video shows that the men entered the store at 12:08 a.m. and were out with the cash register and other items by 12:11 a.m.