VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) – A thrift store in Virginia Beach is hoping someone will recognize and help identify two people the business says stole their donations.
Sunday morning, three people rolled up to the rear of the store in the 5100 block of Shore Drive. Security camera video shows two going inside and one remaining in a black SUV.
Lisa Engelhardt owns the store and another on South Plaza Trail. She’s had donations stolen before , but “I’ve never seen anything like this before.”
Whatever their reason for doing this – this man and woman are not only stealing from a store.
They’re taking resources away from clients of the Judeo Christian Outreach Center. That organization helps to feed the hungry and house the homeless, and the store even provides children rescued from abusive homes with clothing and toys.
Engelhardt says the incident is taking an emotional toll. “I do this because it’s a lifestyle and I love it. But when people start trampling on it, it makes me not sleep at night.”
Engelhardt figures the loss was at least a couple thousand dollars, because what the thieves didn’t take during the rainy Sunday morning, they damaged.
It was all on the ground, all wet, all dirty, so we lost all of that too.
The thieves went at it for 45 minutes, and they weren’t going to let a fence, barbed wire and cameras stop them.
“They had absolutely no morals whatsoever,” Engelhardt said.
Virginia Beach police say the people in the images are not suspects, at least not yet. They’re classified as people of interest. If you have anything that can help them in their investigation you’re asked to call police or the crime line at 1 -888-LOCK-U-UP.
The store posted several images captured by a surveillance camera. Please take a look. If you recognize the people or see the vehicle in the pictures, you can contact Virginia Beach Crime Solvers at 1-888-LOCK-U-UP.
