Princeton car dealers robbed
PRINCETON — Sometime in the late evening hours of Friday night, burglars broke into two Princeton car dealerships and stole tools valued up to $150,000.
Princeton Police Chief Tom Root said his department received a telephone call at 1:30 a.m. Saturday from Harold Ziegler, service manager at Piehl Chevrolet, located at 1402 W. Main St. Ziegler had just returned to his office and called police when he observed the large tool chest was out of place, and tools were missing.
Police discovered the back door was pried open, so police officers checked other businesses and found the back door at Browning Ford, located at 1502 W. Peru St., was also pried open. Police notified Kent Harmon, a salesman at Browning, around 3 a.m. and discovered tools were stolen from that dealership as well.
Ziegler confirmed Monday two boxes of tools, plus tools from three additional boxes were taken. He did not have a final dollar figure, but he estimated the total would be $80,000 to $100,000.
The burglars were able to take the large tool boxes out of the big doors at Piehl’s, but Root said the power to the large doors at Browning’s was turned off; the burglars were forced to remove the tools from the toolboxes and carry them out the small entrance door. Bud Bulthius, general manager at Browning, said the burglars put the tools in garbage cans. He estimated the value could be in excess of $50,000.
Burglars also reached the office in Browning’s and broke a cabinet, but Bulthius estimated not much was taken from the cabinet.
Root said the burglaries took place sometime between 8:30 p.m., when the cleaning crew left Piehl’s and 1:30 a.m., when Ziegler returned to work. Root said both doors were pried open and noted that both entrances are on the back sides of the buildings and not very well lit. Neither business had an alarm or camera system in place.
Root said the burglars focused on the tools, which have no serial numbers, leave no paper trail and are easy to sell.
“They’re easy to move and should move pretty quick,” Root said.
Root said police currently have no suspects or vehicle information and are looking to the public for any kind of lead. Root said the burglars must have used a vehicle such as a panel van or a big truck, and asked neighbors to call if they had seen a suspicious vehicle near either business.
Root said he did not believe the burglars were local. He said there had been similar incidents during the last four to six weeks in Ottawa, Peru and Morris, and believed the burglars could be working out of the LaSalle-Peru area.
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