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Burglary shocks Chamber of Commerce, nearby businesses

5:16 AM, Jun. 1, 2011  |  

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Written by

Carl Burnett Jr.

• FILED UNDER
• News
• Local News

LANCASTER --When employees of the Lancaster-Fairfield County Chamber of Commerce and Main Street Lancaster arrived at work Tuesday morning they expected to get on the phones, get their computers operating and begin the day.

Instead, they got on the phone to call the police.

Someone managed to break into the building that houses the Lancaster-Fairfield County Chamber of Commerce, Main Street Lancaster, and the law offices of Stebleton, Aranda & Snider during the weekend, and the burglars tried to get into Ava Jewelers.

The thieves are thought to have come through a window at the building located at the corner of Broad and Main streets.

According to police reports, a laptop computer, a projector, digital camera and a hard drive were stolen from the Chamber of Commerce offices. Employees of Main Street Lancaster and the Downtown Lancaster Special Improvement District found two laptops missing and a 27-inch flatscreen television.

"We just walked in this morning and found some of our equipment gone," said Travis Markwood, president of the Lancaster/Fairfield County Chamber of Commerce.

Debbie Harris, office administrator for Stebleton, Aranda & Snider, said none of their computers nor equipment was missing.

"However, employees coming in (Tuesday morning) noticed someone had been in their desks," Harris said. "No computers or files were missing, so we don't think any information has been taken from our offices."

David Uhl, executive director of Main Street Lancaster and president of the Special Improvement District, also said he didn't think any of the computers stolen contained sensitive information.

"While we cannot comment on specifics due to an ongoing investigation, what we will say is that no Main Street Lancaster or Special Improvement District member or community partner should be concerned over loss of sensitive data," Uhl said. "No sensitive data was lost in the theft. Main Street Lancaster and the Downtown SID will be 100 percent operational by Wednesday, and we will continue on with our important work of revitalizing downtown."

Travis Markwood, president of the Lancaster/Fairfield County Chamber of Commerce, also said while a computer was stolen from that office, he didn't think it contained any sensitive information.

Ava Edmonds, owner of Ava Jewelers, said someone around 2 p.m. Sunday had tried to break into her business.

"But we think the alarm must have scared them off," Edmonds said. "They just ran out a door. They never did break into the shop."

Uhl said Markwood and the other tenants in the building are reviewing their security options and planning to make some changes.

"You just never expect this type of thing when you come to work in the morning," Markwood said.

Markwood said the Chamber offices would be up and running as normal today.

Carl Burnett Jr. can be reached at (740) 681-4346 orcburnett@lancastereaglegazette.com.