Fairfax County, Virginia, police are searching for suspects in connection with a series of burglaries at two shopping centers.
Since Dec. 30, police said there have been five burglaries and an attempted burglary reported at the Woodlawn and Sacramento Shopping Centers.
On Tuesday, police said employees at the Gateway International Market in Woodlawn Plaza got there and discovered the business had been burglarized.
Around 4:40 a.m., a man used a tool to break the front door, police said. An undisclosed amount of cash was taken, according to a police news release.
While canvassing the shopping center, police said they discovered a shattered widow in the back of nearby China Cafe. Police concluded that the suspect wasn’t able to get in.
“We’ve recently seen this series where, it doesn’t appear to be connected right now; looks like it’s going to be two different suspects,” Fairfax Police Lt. James Curry said. “But nonetheless, we’re bringing it to the attention [of the public] because we hope that somebody sees the images of the two suspects here and can give us a call and help us identify them, take them into custody.”
The first burglary, police said, happened Dec. 30 at Dry Cleaners in Woodlawn and Stars Laundromat in Sacramento.
Dollar General in Woodlawn and Tandoori Kabob in Woodlawn were also targeted, police said.
A lot of times, Curry said, the suspects are “just going for cash that’s inside the businesses.”
“That’s one of the things that we coordinate with business owners, ways to secure money overnight,” he said.
Police are planning to increase patrol in the shopping centers.
“This is certainly a focus for commanders at Mount Vernon District Station, and they’re taking the efforts to make sure that they have the cops there in the right place at the right time,” Curry said.
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