MAHONING COUNTY Beat cops target jukebox raiders

Businesses should make themselves less easy to penetrate, an officer said.
By PATRICIA MEADE
VINDICATOR CRIME REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- After a rash of break-ins, bars and nightclubs are getting special attention from beat cops trying to catch jukebox raiders.
A Youngstown Police Department memo went out Friday advising all shifts that "a significant number" of liquor establishments on the East, North and South sides of town have been broken into recently. The perpetrator, in most cases, destroys the jukeboxes to get to the money inside.
The memo notes that, among the nightspots hit -- some more than once -- were Soso's Club, 232 North Ave.; Southern Tavern, 1508 Glenwood; Himrod Progressive Club, 10 N. Forest Ave.; and Jitso's Bar, 2023 McGuffey Road.
Police reports also show that Partner's Jazz Lounge on Oakhill Avenue was ransacked Aug. 1. Entry was made through side window and the jukebox was smashed and money taken from it.
The bar was also broken into Sept. 1, and the jukebox was again smashed to get to the money. Entry was made through a rear vent that had been torn out of the wall.
Reports show that the break-ins generally occur an hour or two after the bars close for the night.
What they'll look for
Lt. Robin Lees, YPD spokesman, said officers will be looking for suspicious circumstances, anything out of the ordinary, such as someone lingering around a bar that is closed. He said the jukebox thief is relying on making a fast entry and exit -- to be gone before police arrive in response to a burglar alarm.
"They'll go in with a plan, they likely scouted it out beforehand," Lees said. "So even if the alarm trips, they know there's a short delay before police arrive."
Lees said the average burglar in these type of crimes is looking for targets of opportunity, a door that doesn't have a good lock or a door that is hidden from view.
Lees said businesses have to consider what he called "target hardening" -- making it more difficult for someone to break in. Back doors, for example, should not have any obstructions such as boxes or shrubs near them.
Doors should also be lighted from above, Lees said.
Lees said the jukebox style of burglary occurs from time to time and likened it to the "smash and grab" technique where a thief breaks a store window and grabs whatever is on display. The thief then has time to get away before police arrive.
The jukebox raiders have been successful, which is why the break-ins have continued, Lees said.
meade@vindy.com