CHESTERFIELD COUNTY, Va. (WRIC) — Chesterfield police are searching for two juveniles after Voltage Vapin’ on Chester Road was broken into Wednesday around 1 a.m.
The shop’s owner, Jay Taylor, caught the pair on camera vandalizing and stealing from his small business. He said it appeared to be a crime of opportunity.
“They saw a pile of big rocks,” Taylor said. “They went and parked their bikes, grabbed big rocks, well, one of them grabbed a big rock, came back, and threw it through the window.”
The two teens can be seen on security footage outside of the shop contemplating the crime, before parking their bikes around the corner. One of them then returns to the shop entrance and throws a large rock through the glass window, shattering the glass — and breaking in.
“He ran completely through the shop past anything of value main value and stole some items,” Taylor said. “Small vape pens that were inexpensive and didn’t even have any liquid in them or anything so they wouldn’t be able to use them.”
Taylor has since installed temporary boarding over the window, an expense costing the company around $350. He said the boarding cost is just the beginning, and expects the process of fixing the glass window to cost more than ten times the value of the merchandise the thief stole.
But, Taylor said the pair took more than just vape pens.
“What they really stole was the safety and security of the community,” Taylor said.
Now, he’s asking for the community’s help identifying the two juveniles. He believes the crime has got to stop, and that people need to be held accountable for their actions — noting the two thieves may be young, but they made “an adult” decision.
“I kind of look at it as somebody their age doing something like this as a scream for help, and that help may come in the form of consequences,” Taylor said.
