Employees of two loan offices in the 900 block of Laurens’ East Main Street arrived yesterday morning to discover overnight break-ins.
Sheriff’s Deputy McMahan was dispatched to Auto Money Title Loans at 923 East Main, Laurens at 8:13 yesterday morning. A woman reported she arrived at work and found the building had no power. On checking further, she discovered the building had been broken into. All the desk drawers in the office had been opened; one was torn up to gain entry. Deputy McMahan noted entry had been gained through a back door, damaging the door frame, and that the meter had been taken from the electric box, so the alarm did not sound on entry to the building. $965 cash was reported stolen. Break-in was estimated to have occurred since 4:20 yesterday morning.
Laurens City Police were dispatched to Title Max at 920 East Main at 8:29 yesterday morning after an employee arrived, opened the front door to observe cabinets in the office were damaged. Officer Kanipe reported observing a side window on the building was broken out, and noted damage to the rear of the building where someone attempted to smash the building with a blunt object. The electric breaker box was also open with the power in the “off” position. Officers noted that several file cabinets had been pried open and dented, drawers were pulled out, interior doors were broken by force and ceiling tiles were missing. A surveillance DVR box was also taken.
The Sheriff’s Office and Laurens City Police continue investigations of the two break-ins, one in the city and one outside city limits.