SOUTH CAROLINA COMPUTERS STOLEN FROM OFFICE OF MONTHLY MAGAZINE PUBLISHER islandpacket.com Bluffton Breeze office robbed: "Bluffton Breeze office robbed
Published Saturday, February 25, 2006


BLUFFTON -- When Donna Huffman went to her office Tuesday to put the finishing touches on the March edition of the Bluffton Breeze, it basically wasn't there.

The structure at 18 Jason St. was standing, but almost everything of value inside had been stolen.

'They cleaned my office out,' said Huffman, who owns and operates the monthly magazine that focuses on Bluffton and features work by people in the community.

Sgt. Pat Blankenship of the Bluffton Police Department said the back door of the office was pried open and two computers, a telephone-fax machine, a scanner and a printer were stolen between Monday night and Tuesday morning. The items are valued at a total of $2,000. Damage to the back door was estimated at $100.

Huffman said cameras and lenses also were among the items taken.

Despite the losses, the March issue will be published. Huffman said she only had a few pages left to produce, and Graham Bullock and the staff at Village Printing helped complete them. The equipment will be replaced in time to put out the April issue, she said.

While the equipment was valuable, Huffman said the main loss was the data on some of the computers. 'Basically they stole an art gallery and a research library from me,' she said.

Bluffton police are seeking tips to help find the person or persons responsible for the break-in. Anyone with information about the crime is asked to call the department's tip line at 706-4560."