Burglars break holes in wall, steal more than $100K in computers from Best Buy in Hoover

Three masked burglars broke a hole in the wall of the Best Buy in the Riverchase Village and stole more than $100,000 in merchandise from the store early Monday morning, Hoover police said.

The break-in occurred about 2:15 a.m. and lasted about two hours and 20 minutes, Lt. Chuck McDonald said.

The burglars actually created three holes in the store — one on the roof and two in a wall. One of the holes in the wall was smaller and not big enough to fit through, but the second was about 2 ½ feet wide, McDonald said.

Police are not sure if the hole on the roof was an entry attempt that failed or if it was created to find a better spot to enter through the wall after the first wall entry apparently failed, he said.

The total value of merchandise stolen was $117,548, McDonald said. The majority of the items taken from the store were various brands of laptop computers and computer tablets, he said.

The store has an alarm system, but “we do not know why the alarm did not go off,” McDonald said. “We could find nothing wrong with the alarm.”

Video surveillance footage shows three masked men wearing dark clothing and what appears to be gloves, but the video footage is of poor quality, he said.

Police believe this burglary was connected to similar break-ins at Best Buy stores in Florida, Georgia and Texas, McDonald said.