HOPE — Two burglars attempted to take a safe out of the Dollar General in Hope but were unsuccessful both times and were nearly caught by a Hope Police Department reserve officer.
The Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department were sent to check on a burglar alarm call at the store at 4:47 a.m. Sunday, said Hope Town Marshal Matthew D. Tallent. They found two individuals had made a forced entry into the store’s emergency exit and tied a rope to the safe, attempting to pull it out of the building with a vehicle.
The rope broke and they were unsuccessful and left the store, surveillance video showed. Tallent said he assigned a reserve officer to be at the store overnight in case the burglars returned.
At about 3:07 a.m. Monday, Reserve Officer Skyler Hollin saw a silver pickup truck stop at the store and back up to the emergency exit door. Three males exited the vehicle wearing face masks and one went into the emergency door. They attempted to tie a rope and chain to the safe but Hollin interrupted them, Tallent said.
They evaded Hollin by driving through the grass as Hollin blocked the parking lot exit at the store. A short pursuit went west on County Road 600N and County Road 500/525E, Tallent said. Two of the individuals bailed out of the truck on County Road 525E and ran west into a farmer’s field as the truck continued north on 525E. Hollin chased the two suspects on foot but lost sight of them, Tallent said.
Anyone with information is asked to call the Hope Police Department 812-546-6402. Information may be left anonymously.
For more on this story, see Wednesday’s Republic.
