Police say six businesses were broken into overnight April 22 in what could be related incidents.
Hundreds of dollars, personal identity information, a laptop, copper piping, cigarettes and lottery tickets were stolen from the Swiss Farm Market, the Original General Store, the CV Oil Company, and at Colton Enterprises all on Route 100 in Pittsfield between 1 a.m. and 4 a.m. April 22. Similar items were stolen from the Killington Deli and the Sunoco Gas Station in West Rutland around the same time.
Colton Enterprises General Manager Christi Bollman said personnel data for all of her current and past employees was stolen.
Her laptop, which had Bollman’s tax returns checking accounts, online accounts, corporate credit card information, information for all of Colton Enterprise’s customers as well as her personal files was stolen.
Bollman said her employees have had to “take protective measures against themselves.” She is in the process of reporting identity theft to the attorney general’s office.
Bollman said someone broke into her office through a built-in air conditioner.
“The air conditioner was shoved on my desk,” she said. They then left through the front door.
Video cameras caught a hooded figure at the business around 12:19 a.m. Bollman isn’t sure if there was one person or several people.
Bollman said she believes a local person broke in.
“They know the area,” she said.
It appears the people who broke in moved from business to business down the street. Swiss Farm Market owner Roger Stevens opened his store at 4:30 a.m. April 22 and saw a broken window.
“It was pretty obvious what had happened,” he said.
Twenty packs of cigarettes along with lottery tickets were stolen, Stevens said.
Stevens said his video camera caught a male “handing stuff out to somebody” at the store around 1:45 a.m.
Stevens said this is the first time in his 20 years the store had been broken into.
Nothing was damaged at the Killington Deli, but the store owner declined to comment due to the pending investigation.
State Police Trooper Kevin Nutt said an arrest had not been made as of Monday. Police originally believed the incidents were related.
“It’s an ongoing investigation,” Nutt said.
Anyone with information is asked to contact Nutt at the state police Rutland Barracks at 802-773-9101.
