Skinny burglar strikes again, leaving police baffled

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) – The skinny burglar strikes again.

The hungry criminal who police believe is responsible for eight break-ins at businesses on the South Side is now being linked to four new crimes in the Olneyville and West End sections of town, The Providence Journal reported.

Police said the territory is new, but the method is the same.

The thief squeezes down ventilation shafts or kitchen vents, or smashes a small hole through a wall, to get in. He or she normally grabs cash, cigarettes and food. The robber has eaten a watermelon, a mango and even cooked a meal at one restaurant on Cranston Street.

The strange behavior has police baffled. Due to the way the thief is entering the buildings, security alarms aren’t being triggered.

Last Wednesday, the burglar tunneled through a ventilation shaft and stole women’s hair extensions from B.E.T. Beauty Supplies on Broad Street. On Thursday, the thief slid down a shaft and crashed through a ceiling to enter Mian Garden Chinese Restaurant on Manton Avenue. The criminal then ate a watermelon and stole some cash.

On Sunday, the burglar squeezed down a vent at Heng Express Restaurant, cooked a meal on the stove and left. And Monday, the thief smashed a hole in the cinderblock wall at the International Specialties store on Cranston Street. The individual fled with cash, cigarettes, a few bags of Doritos, a can of soda and some jewelry.

Richard Moravec, owner of the International Specialties store, said he couldn’t figure out how the thief entered.

“I looked up in the ceiling, the doors, and everything looked fine,” Moravec said. Then he saw the hole in the wall.

“He had to work awful hard to break through that brick,” he added.

AP-ES-05-18-04 0908EDT