Police probe four Durango burglaries

Break-ins discovered at 2 a.m. Monday

by Shane Benjamin
Herald Staff Writer

Article Last Updated; Tuesday, December 02, 2008

Four businesses were broken into Sunday night in Durango, extending a rash of burglaries the city has experienced during the last couple of months.

Click image to enlarge

Photo by JERRY McBRIDE/Herald

Laura Leonard, co-owner of Uptown Girls on Main Avenue, looks at the door of her business that was kicked in sometime late Sunday night.

The most recent burglaries occurred between 10:15 and 10:30 p.m. at the Durango Suites and Salons, a row of health and beauty shops in the 2900 block of Main Avenue.

The suspect or suspects kicked in the doors of all four businesses in search of cash and other items, said Cindi Clay, investigator for the Durango Police Department.

Police discovered the break-ins about 2 a.m. Monday while canvassing the area for suspicious activity. It was about eight hours after GameStop in the Wal-Mart shopping center was robbed at gunpoint.

None of the four businesses had alarms.

Stefany Rhodes, owner of the Durango Suites and Salons complex, said the shop owners keep very little cash or things of value in the shops.

"I'm just very sad that it happened," she said. "These women aren't making a lot of money, and they're not going to leave (cash) there in huge quantities. I just think it's disgusting that someone would rob these hard-working people."

Laura Leonard, co-owner of Uptown Girls, said the culprit or culprits took $20 in cash, about $200 worth of hair products and a large painting of a Converse shoe. The painting was about 3 feet by 5 feet in size.

"It was my favorite painting, too," Leonard said. "I don't even know how it would fit in somebody's car, unless they had a big car."

No significant damage was done to the businesses, but an intruder threw Leonard's CD collection on the ground.

"I don't think they really liked our CD collection, because they didn't take any," she said.

Anyone who saw suspicious individuals or vehicles near the salons Sunday night is asked to call Clay at 375-4738.

Police planned to release more information about the GameStop armed robbery and the burglaries today.

shane@durangoherald.com

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