TEMPLE, Texas (KXXV) — Owners of local mom-and-pop shops speak up after some recent burglaries in the area.
- Zales Jewelry Store was the most recent store to be burglarized on Thursday.
- There have been 10 burglaries as of December 17th, 2024, in Temple.
- John Wall is the owner of Wall 2 Wall Vape shop and is good friends with the owners of Vape Excapes, a mom-and-pop shop that was burglarized three times in a month.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
Every snap of the register closing is a loud reminder for owner John Wall of Wall 2 Wall vape shop in Bell County.
A string of burglaries at both commercial and mom-and-pop businesses in recent weeks has become common for our community, and it's leaving some owners worried.
"It seems to me that it is on the younger side for the criminals, and I hate that it's happening, and I think they need a stiffer penalty to curtail that appetite of them wanting to do it," Wall said.
25 News' drove to Temple Police HQ to get some numbers for you, and here's what 25 News' found.
If we compare some numbers — we see in November, there were 14 cases of burglary of a building, and in November 2023, it was the same number.
Now, if we look at December 2023 — there were 13 cases. So far, we're halfway through this December, and there have been 10.
"It seems to be increasing a lot, especially over the past four to six months," said Wall
The owner is actually a good friend of the owners of the vape shop 25 News did a story on last week who got their own string of burglaries a couple of weeks back and played a big role in catching the juvenile.
"On the third offense, they called me since I was close, and I just happened to be able to help."
If it's one thing John wants our law enforcement to do, it's be a little stricter on people, no matter their age.
"I would like to see our police force and DA's be a little more strict on these people as I feel like they get to walk a little bit because if they do a crime and get no time then it tends to them wanting to do it again," Wall said.
