YPSILANTI, Mich. (WXYZ) — Shattered glass and a large rock were left behind after a thief broke into World of Rocks in Ypsilanti, one of several businesses recently targeted in the area.
"This is the rock that broke our door," said Mo Hoeffel, manager at World of Rocks.
The owners and employees are still processing the recent break-in at their store.
"I woke up from a phone call from the owner, and he said, 'Hey, are you on your way in?' I said, 'Yeah, what's up?' He said we got broken into," Hoeffel said.
Hoeffel has been working at the store for about eight years and considers it her second home.
"We saw him walk up with a rock in his hand, throw it through the glass, crawl through the broken glass door, walk all the way to our cash register," she said.
The break-in left Hoeffel feeling violated.
"I felt very intruded upon because I care about this place, I care about the things in here, I care about the people here. So it feels very violating to have something happen," Hoeffel said.
According to Hoeffel, World of Rocks isn't the only business affected.
"Three other businesses on Michigan Avenue, just around the corner from us, got broken into," she said.
I visited several of these businesses and spoke with their owners, who confirmed the break-ins. All declined to appear on camera, expressing concerns about possible retaliation from the person responsible.
World of Rocks has been in contact with police and hopes investigators can identify a suspect.
"We filed a police report and police came and got a piece of our mat behind the counter because it had his boot print in it, and he took his gloves off to handle our cash drawer, so he left fingerprints everywhere," Hoeffel said.
I reached out to Ypsilanti police but have not received a response.
"Told us, unfortunately, they couldn't find anything from the boot print, which is understandable. But it's to be determined for the fingerprints that were on the cash drawer," Hoeffel said.
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