Burglars hit the Rainbow Store on Athens Highway on July 7 but succeeded only in stealing cigarettes and lottery tickets.
According to reports, Deputy Philip Knowles arrived at the store at 11:46 p.m. after the store owner reported the burglary. The owner was alerted by his phone that the store’s alarm had been set off.
Knowles said the chain usually wrapped around the door handles after business hours had been severed and tossed aside, and the deadbolt on the front glass doors pried apart.
Deputies secured the scene and noticed that the cash register had been opened and the safe behind the counter had been moved.
When the owner arrived, he told deputies he had live video streamed to his phone from the store's cameras. The video showed two black males wearing masks and blue surgical gloves entering the store at 11:36 p.m. and immediately going behind the counter.
The video then shows the suspects using the store’s trash bags to carry cigarettes and lottery tickets. Once the suspects realized the register and safe contained no money, they left through the front door.
The suspects turned right and left the area on foot, spending only a minute or two in the store. The store's most recent security check was at 10:51 p.m., and Knowles was dispatched at 11:38 p.m.
Deputies determined that approximately 20 cartons of cigarettes were taken along with 14 lottery tickets.