JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – There has been a string of burglaries in recent days in the Jacksonville area involving stolen cars being used as battering rams to break storefront windows.
MORE: Video shows car ram window of GameStop on Westside during burglary; 2 other Jacksonville stores hit
Three Westside GameStops have been hit since Saturday and on Wednesday the Clay County Sheriff’s Office confirmed two smoke shops were also burglarized the same way this week. Two teenagers have since been arrested.
Surveillance video taken at Smoky Bubble in Clay County around 3:30 a.m. Tuesday showed the latest in a string of burglaries where cars were used to gain entry. After making their way in, thieves went straight for the cash register.
Employee Kristen Thompson said they stole about $150.
“But luckily, that’s pretty much all they took, except for a few minor pieces of stuff that we had around the store,” Thompson said.
In surveillance video, they’re seen walking out with what they can carry.
And this isn’t the only vape shop that’s been hit.
On Monday, SoCal Smoke Shop in Orange Park was also broken into early in the morning with a car.
Franklin Greenaway owns the place with his brothers. He said it’s going to cost about $40,000 to make repairs and security upgrades.He wondered if he would get to stay open and said the thieves went after money, clothes and things they could grab quickly.
According to an incident report, the burglars used a car stolen from a Westside street earlier that morning. In the process, they ditched another stolen car that had been used to ram a GameStop at Oakleaf Town Center a little before 5 a.m.
Early Sunday morning, it appeared another stolen car was used to burglarize two other Westside GameStop locations.
Thompson at Smoky Bubble has a message for any would-be burglars.
“Just take a moment to think about what you’re going to do and how much you’re going to pay for it in the end, because you will be caught eventually,” Thompson said.
The Clay County Sheriff’s said two juveniles who broke into that smoke shop have been arrested. It’s unclear if they’re connected to the other Clay County burglary but the owner of the stolen Kia Soul used said the car was found abandoned and may be totaled.
MORE: Nearly 5 million Kias, Hyundais at high risk for auto theft, Carfax estimates
No arrests have been made yet in the burglaries in Duval County and JSO is asking anyone with information to come forward and contact them at 904-630-0500 or via email at JSOCrimeTips@jaxsheriff.org.