Armed burglars hit two stores

Published 8:25 pm Thursday, July 30, 2009

Peach Park and an Exxon station off Interstate 65 were both broken into overnight Wednesday.

Around 12:15 a.m., Clanton police responded to a burglar alarm at Peach Park.

They arrived within a minute of getting the call from dispatch, but the suspects had already left.

While officers worked the scene at Peach Park, they received another call about an alarm going off at the Exxon Mobile gas station at Exit 208.

Cigarettes and an undisclosed amount of cash were taken from the businesses, according to Police Chief Brian Stilwell.

Both businesses were closed during the break-ins, and no injuries were reported.

Security cameras at Peach Park captured two black males, wearing masks, entering and leaving the store.

Stilwell said the men were armed with handguns and had them drawn when going into and leaving the stores.

Anyone with information about the burglaries should call Clanton police at 755-1194. Tips may be left anonymously.

The burglaries follow two unsolved break-ins from earlier this month.

Aftershock Audio and San Marcos restuarant were broken into the night of Monday, July 13.

The Shell Sunny Food Store on U.S. 31 was also held up at shotgun point later that night.

So far, no arrests have been made in those crimes.

Stilwell said his department does have suspects in the cases and he hopes arrests warrants are issued soon.