O’Fallon Police release video of burglars crashing car through doors of Academy Sports
The O’Fallon Police Department has released a portion of surveillance video from Academy Sports, where multiple suspects tried to break into a gun case after driving a stolen car through the store’s front doors early Wednesday morning.
The suspects are still at large, O’Fallon Police Capt. Mike Mojzis said Thursday morning.
The video was provided to the Belleville News-Democrat Thursday afternoon. It shows the moment the car drove into the front entrance. Three people can be seen exiting the car.
Police say the suspects then went to the store’s gun department and tried unsuccessfully to break the glass of the gun case with a sledgehammer.
“The cabinets are very, very secure,” Mojzis said. “We’re glad that Academy Sports has taken those measures.”
The O’Fallon Police Department is also working with officers in St. Peters, Missouri, where another Academy Sports was broken into after a car drove through the front doors early Wednesday morning. Suspects there tried unsuccessfully to shoot through the glass of the gun case.
In O’Fallon, the suspects used a stolen Kia to drive through the front doors and break into the building. In St. Peters, they used a Hyundai.
O’Fallon Police say a second Kia was also stolen on Wednesday about two blocks from the Academy Sports store; they believe it is connected to the crime. It is a red-over-gray 2012 Kia Optima with Illinois registration Q598918.
The city of St. Louis recently threatened to sue Kia and Hyundai makers over “defective conditions” that make the cars easy to steal after a large increase in thefts there. Mojzis said O’Fallon Police see more car thefts caused by people leaving their car doors unlocked or garage doors open.
O’Fallon Police continue looking for information about the Academy Sports incident and are seeking surveillance video from outside the store that shows the suspects, according to Mojzis.
Anyone with information is asked to contact O’Fallon Police Det. Nick Schimdt at 618-624-4545.
This story was originally published September 1, 2022 at 1:54 PM.
