VIENNA - Thieves overnight Tuesday broke into a Vienna thrift store where the operators are upset the crooks are stealing from the needy.
The break-in was discovered Wednesday morning when staff came to work, said Amy Fullmer, volunteer manager of the Newstart Thrift Mart, which was established about five years ago by the Parkersburg Seventh-day Adventist Church.
They made away with about $14 in change from the cash register but were unable to get into a lock box that had to be repaired, Fullmer said.
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Amy Fullmer, volunteer manager of the Newstart Thrift Mart at 2504 Grand Central Ave., Vienna, stands at the cash register where thieves Tuesday night tried, but were unable, to get into a cash box. About $14 in change was taken from a cash register, she said.
It cost $125 to repair the box, she said.
"That's $125 that would have gone to help somebody," Fullmer said.
The store, which sells used clothing and household goods, is located at 2504 Grand Central Ave.
The Vienna Police Department is investigating, Chief George Young said. Investigators have no suspects, he said.
"We didn't find any sign of forced entry," Young said.
Fullmer also was baffled at how entry was made. She went through the rooms and couldn't find a point of entry.
"I don't how they did it," she said.
She understands police have little in their investigation.
"There's really nothing they can do," Fullmer said.
The incident was the second at the store this year, Fullmer said. Around July during the heat wave, someone took a length of copper tubing to an air conditioning unit, she said.
The tubing cost about $8, but the repairs were $624, she said.
"I was livid," Fullmer said.
Newstart is the first letters of nutrition, exercise, water, sunshine, temperance, air, rest and trust, Fullmer said. The store provides funding for agencies helping the needy with heating bills, such as Warming Hearts and Hands, residents affected by fire, floods or other disasters and food, she said.
The store sends packages to troops stationed overseas, helps children during Christmas and in the last two weeks provided a man who didn't have a suit to wear to his grandmother's funeral, she said.
Stealing from the store is stealing from residents who need help, she said.
"This is a store that all the money that's made here goes back into the community," Fullmer said.
