NORTH CAROLINA COMPUTERS STOLEN Cleaners robbed 3 times in 4 days:

Cleaners robbed 3 times in 4 days

By Sarah Newell Williamson | Hickory Daily Record

Published: October 6, 2009

HICKORY - An area business has been broken into three times in four days, and the owner has had enough.

Fulbright's Cleaners, on Third Avenue Drive, NW, was broken into Thursday evening, Saturday evening and again Sunday — likely by the same person each time. The building was locked, but that wasn't enough to deter thieves.

"I came in at 4:30 a.m. on Friday to start the day, and I realized that they broke into the Pepsi machine," owner Phillip Fulbright said. "They came back when I was here. A guy came in, so nonchalantly, but then he saw me and took off, and I realized he was the guy who broke in."

Fulbright said the lights were off when he came to work, and he turned them on when he came in — something that should have tipped off the robber that someone was there.

As for Fulbright, he didn't expect the person who was walking in Friday morning to be a stranger.

Fulbright said he was expecting one of his employees.

According to the police report, the thieves broke in by prying open the handle on the rear door of the building. They stole about $25 from the drink machine.

Fulbright said he thought that would be the end of it.

He was wrong.

"They took all of the computers on Saturday night," he said. "There were four computers, and they took them all."

The computers were several years old. Fulbright said he was surprised the robbers took them, and said they likely couldn't sell them for very much.

According to the police report, the robbers got in by prying open a side door to the building this time.
On Sunday, after Fulbright's Cleaners closed, Fulbright said he went to purchase a computer. While he was gone, the thieves struck again.

"On Sunday night, at 7:45 p.m., I left for an hour to go buy another computer, and the police department called me," Fulbright said.

While the Hickory Police Department was performing a property check at Fulbright's, they found the back door propped open, according to police reports.

This time, Fulbright said the thieves stole a computer even older than the models he normally uses on a daily basis.

"It was an older computer that I had put in storage," he said. "I don't know what they were coming back for the third time if I hadn't brought anything in there."

Fulbright said he had pulled the older computer out of storage to use because his others had been stolen.

There is no cash at the dry cleaner's because most of his customers have accounts.

On Sunday and Monday evenings, Fulbright took additional measures to ensure his business wouldn't be robbed again.

He sat outside his business both nights. Today, an alarm is being installed.

Fulbright still thinks the robbers might try to come back, though.

"On Sunday night, I saw a car drive by slowly," he said. "When they saw me outside, they left."

He hopes that between him waiting outside, the police department making regular checks of the building and the new security measures he's installing, Fulbright's Cleaners will remain secure.