Theft investigation continues, Plato’s Closet back in action

A local clothing and accessory resale store is back in business after a Saturday morning break-in shut it down for the weekend.

A video posted on Plato’s Closet’s Facebook page showed three hooded suspects exiting the store with items after breaking in. Owner Jill Martin was out of town at the time of the break-in.

“It’s heartbreaking you feel very violated,” Martin said. “You know stuff happens but it is different when it happens to you, whether its your home or business it hits different.”

The main items stolen from the store were designer hand bags, clothes and inserts to the register drawers. Martin did not specify the total value of the items stolen.

The initial break-in occurred around 2:30 a.m. on Saturday, Feb. 22, a suspect attempted to use a crowbar to get into the store. The store alarm went off and police arrived on the scene to investigate.

Later that same evening around 4:30 a.m. the suspects went back to the store, shattered the door and broke in.

Martin worked to clean up the mess this past Sunday, Feb. 23 and the front door is being fixed. Martin is putting new security measures in place for the future.

“We’re upgrading our security and we’re going to have additional cameras,” Martin said. “We have cameras inside and outside the store but it never hurts to have more.”

The video posted to the store’s Facebook page has over 120,000 views and Martin said she feels blessed by the concerned community. Another positive Martin highlighted is that no employees were hurt during the break-in.

“That’s always my first priority, is my team,” She said. “We are grateful, stuff and things can always be replaced so I am grateful for that.”

Martin said that the St. Joseph Police Department have multiple videos with different views of the incident and the investigation is ongoing. News-Press NOW reached out to SJPD for an update.

News-Press NOW will update this story as more information becomes available.