BALTIMORE COUNTY, Md. (WBFF) — Baltimore County police are investigating another string of commercial burglaries – this time, targeting about half a dozen businesses in downtown Catonsville.
The most recent stretch of break-ins happened early Sunday morning along Frederick Road, leaving boarded-up windows, shattered glass, and shaken business owners in their wake.
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“It was kind of like shock,” said Lou Weinkam, owner of Franco’s Italian Bistro. “That’s so foreign, it wasn’t even on my radar that something like that would ever occur.”
In total, police said seven businesses were hit. Most of them, family owned.
“It’s hurtful because it just doesn’t happen to us,” Weinkam said.
“It makes me feel very vulnerable. Makes me feel very violated. You know, we really pour ourselves into our businesses here,” said Blue Iris Flowers owner Allison Glascock, another victim. “We’re not faceless corporations. We’re your neighbors, your friends. And that’s really what’s upsetting me the most, is it’s really got me rattled more than anything else.”
Surveillance video from inside Blue Iris Flowers showed two suspects kicking in a glass panel, running behind the counter, grabbing a cash register, and fleeing through the same entrance. Glascock said they only made off with a small amount of money.
“We barely keep any cash in here,” she said. “Most of our business is electronic.”
Others were hit harder. “We’re missing our registers and our point-of-sale system, and then we also found out the TV got wrecked,” Weinkam said. “Maybe three or four thousand dollars’ worth of damage, that’s a lot of money for a small place like us.”
Meanwhile, just one day earlier, seven businesses were also broken into at the Belair Beltway Plaza in Nottingham. Surveillance video from that incident showed four suspects shattering storefronts and stealing cash registers.
Baltimore County police said they are still investigating whether the Catonsville and Nottingham cases are connected. So far, no arrests have been made, and no suspect descriptions have been released.
“It’s a wake-up call to be more vigilant,” Glascock said. “You start wondering, can it happen again?”
Despite the damage, business owners said an outpouring of community support has helped them push forward.
“We can’t keep up with the business today, which I am more than thankful for,” Glascock said.
“The amount of phone calls and the amount of people that have offered to help us has been astronomical,” Weinkam said. “For my family to see that support, it just takes your breath away.”
Anyone with additional information or surveillance video related to these cases is asked to contact Baltimore County Police at 410-887-4636.
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