A burglary at an Aberdeen pawn shop early Thursday morning sent police on a chase for the suspects and set the store back around $1,000 in merchandise, according to the shop owner.
Cash for Gold and More – owned and operated by Austin Renaud – was broken into around 5:30 a.m., he said, when three masked suspects in all black smashed the front door with a hammer and walked in.
Nobody was in the shop at the time, he said.
Based on his store’s surveillance camera, Renaud said one suspect proceeded to rip open all the drawers and desk, while the other two popped open the door to the safe room. They were in and out in about 60 seconds.
The store has both Ring cameras and hard-wired cameras, as well as a security system, according to Renaud. All the safes are locked and monitored under security systems, too.
Security and police – notified of the break-in by the security systems – contacted Renaud to let him know what had happened, he said.
“I’ve got systems in place for a reason, and everything worked out the way it should,” he said.
In a Facebook post, the Aberdeen Township Police Department said the incident is under an active, multi-jurisdictional investigation between state and local agencies and confirmed that they received a burglary alarm call Thursday morning from Cash for Gold and More.
The officers found the front door to the business unsecure and smashed, the post also said.
Renaud said he knows the suspects stole a Louis Vuitton bag from his business and he thinks they may have taken some rings, gift cards and coins off his desk.
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“To be honest with you, there is so much inventory spread out, I’m not 100 percent sure what was stolen,” he said.
As an estimate, Renaud said he’d guess they got about $1,000 in merchandise and caused around $1,000 in damage.
While police have not talked to the Asbury Park Press, Renaud said he was told by police the suspects used two stolen vehicles in the crime. Matawan police chased them following the incident, but got away, police told him.
One of the stolen vehicles has been recovered so far, Renaud said he was told by police. He is not sure if any of the suspects have been taken into custody yet.
Cash for Gold and More has been opened on Route 34 in Aberdeen for 13 years, Renaud said. There has never been an incident like this before.
“This is just a hiccup in a regular day’s work,” he said. “At the end of the day, you can’t cry over spilt milk.”
He said Matawan and Aberdeen police were on top of the situation and watched over the store until he arrived.
“Very thankful for the police and the community and everything that they’ve done,” he said.
Aberdeen police are urging anyone with information on the incident to contact Detective Louis Nanna at 732-583-4200 ext.212 or [email protected].
Jenna Calderón covers breaking news and cold cases in Monmouth and Ocean counties. Before coming to the Press, she covered The Queen City for Cincinnati Magazine in Ohio. Contact her at 330-590-3903; [email protected]