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Burglars Use Stolen Vehicle For Another 'Smash-And-Grab' Heist

(CBS) -- Thieves made off with an undetermined amount of merchandise in a smash-and-grab burglary of a North Austin clothing store early Thursday.

A pickup truck crashed through the back brick wall of the store at 4:12 a.m. in the 5200 block of West North Avenue, police News Affairs Officer Jose Estrada said.  The business was the J-Bees clothing store.

Several people grabbed clothing – high-value jeans and athletic shoes -- and ran away, police said. The value of the stolen merchandise wasn't immediately known.

The manager of the business was perplexed.

"If they can break in the concrete how are you going to secure the property?" Muhammad Lodhi told CBS 2's Mike Puccinelli.

Store owner Syed Hassan estimates the damage and stolen merchandise at $100,000.

"It's really sad, Thanksgiving is a day you're supposed to be with family and we have to, you know, deal with this," he said.

Police said it wasn't clear if the robbery was connected to a series of other smash-and-grab burglaries in the Chicago area over the last two months. Most recently, thieves used a vehicle to crash through the front of a West Side clothing store early Wednesday before swarming the inside and taking merchandise.

A source tells CBS 2 that police took a suspect into custody following the Thursday heist, after the individual was found hiding in a nearby yard.

The pickup truck was stolen and used as a battering ram, CBS 2's Brad Edwards reports.

"It hurt me for someone to do that because I treat everybody right," the owner, Freddie Cotton, said as he claimed his vehicle.

(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2014. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

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