Bridge City police early Sunday morning arrested a Louisiana man inside the Market Basket store on Texas Avenue. Detective Danny Hodges said the man had a grinder and was trying to cut into an ATM inside the store.
Police are investigating whether the man is connected to similar break-ins in Orange last week and others in Beaumont and Lake Charles.
Detective Hodges said an alarm sent a patrol officer to the Market Basket about 12:40 a.m. Sunday. The glass to the front door had been broken. The man was not armed and offered no resistance, though the detective said the suspect gave another name at first.
27-year-old Justin Richmond of Lake Charles is now in the Orange County Jail facing charges of burglary of a building and failure to identify to a peace officer. His bond has been set at $25,000 for the burglary and $1,000 for failure to identify.
Early in the morning of Monday August 15, someone broke into three stores along 16th Street in Orange. At 1:30 a.m. an alarm at the Market Basket, 3709 16th Street, summoned police. The front door and foyer door had been broken but patrol officers did not find anyone inside.
Later when employees arrived at Family Dollar, 1301 16th Street, glass had been broken. Someone had cut into an ATM inside and took cash. The glass door at the Diamond Shamrock, 3900 16th Street, was also found broken that morning but nothing was missing.
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