A busy Lee’s Summit gas station was broken into and burglarized Thursday morning for the third time in three months. Now the business owner is not only concerned about safety, but is also offering a reward to anyone with information.
Someone busted through the front glass door at the Phillips 66 near Southwest 3rd and Southwest Longview after 4 a.m. Thursday, less than an hour before opening time. The burglar stole $1,700 worth of cigarettes and liquor.
"I strongly believe he's going to sell it," said Felicia Arnold, a store manager.
Just like the previous burglaries, the most recent burglar's face is covered. Also, because the alarm company calls the store first before police, the burglars are long gone before police arrive.
"They're in and out within two minutes," said Arnold.
Arnold and her team are starting to get extremely concerned for their safety, a feeling they never thought they would have in Lee’s Summit.
"We have to clean up all that glass, because it takes 45 minutes to clean up all that glass. And then like, she was here four minutes after the burglary. What if she would have shown up while it was happening?" said Arnold.
The store has lost more than $8,000 from the three burglaries combined, counting the cost of repairs.
They're now forced to add more cameras and bars to the front doors.
The owner of the Phillips 66 is offering a $1,000 reward to anyone who can give information that leads to an arrest.
"Each time it's about $800 for the door to get fixed, plus the cost of putting the bars on the windows now. Which it does suck because this is not the area you want that in, but at the same time this is the only way to stop them from coming in the store," said Arnold.
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Josh Helmuth can be reached at josh.helmuth@kshb.com
