Thieves hit Albany ARC thift shop early Friday

ALBANY, Ga. — Call it kicking them when they are down.

Around 1 a.m. Friday, Thieves smashed a glass door and stole loose change from a thrift store that raises money to help people with disabilities.

The Albany Advocacy Resource Center sells selected used items, some looking like antiques, to raise money for the developmentally or physically disabled with special needs at its 301 Pine Ave. store.

“This is the second time this year we’ve been broken into and had change stolen. The change is not usually left in the store. It was an oversight,” said Joyce Cresswell, the organization’s executive director. “It costs us between $200 and $400 to repair the doors. That’s money we could use to help people with.”

According to an Albany Police Department report, officers responded to an alarm at the store and found a glass door shattered. About the same time, an officer spotted a suspicious person in the area.

“He was pushing a shopping cart with a television and a microwave in it,” said Phyllis Banks, police spokeswoman. “It became unclear if the property actually belonged to Albany ARC.”

The suspicious person was cited for having an open container, a police report stated. He was released and left with his property, Banks added.

Banks said the case is labeled a criminal trespass and remains under investigation.

A patron at the ARC store at 11 a.m. Friday said he was dismayed to hear of the break-in.

“I’m not surprised, given the nature of our times, the lack of morality,” Guy Welch said. “It is tragic that an organization that does so much good for people is hurt like this.”