Shop owner offers reward after burglary

PRESTON, Conn. (WTNH) - A lack of leads prompts a Preston business owner to launch his own effort to find the person who robbed his store.

He's offering a reward for information leading to an arrest.

Pieces of glass are left on the ground which came from the front door of the Preston Market. Shattered pieces lay by the bottom of the door where it actually kicked in. The glass has been replaced, but the market is not back to normal.

Surveillance video inside the Route 2 store shows a man smashing his way through the glass door and then crawling right in. He immediately runs behind the counter and then empty handed crawls back out. He's in the Preston Market for less than thirty seconds. The store was also broken into in September.

"They smashed and they grabbed over $1,000 worth of cigarettes that time. This time we're very lucky they didn't get anything," says Scott Hunter, Owner of Preston Market.

Employees assume the suspects/s put the rock in the bag and used it to break the glass.

The break-in has Hunter taking action. He's offering a $250 reward for any information leading to an arrest.

"We're just hoping that someone will come forward with some information about these burglaries. Not only here but in Preston City, in Old Mystic, and in Ledyard. These smash and grabs have been going on for several months," says Hunter.

Hunter says the thieves are usually after cigarettes or money.

"Hopefully we can get some leads and catch these people and put an end to it, it's senseless," says Hunter.

Through the years, Hunter has made changes to make it harder for thieves to rip him off. No longer are cartons of cigarettes easily accessible behind the counter, and he also added four more metal bars so it's not so easy to crawl through.