Thieves broke into four Cobleskill businesses and one church last week, but police may have caught a big break at an abortive break-in at another business.
Three businesses in the town and one more in the village, along with the United Methodist Church, were burglarized sometime between last Tuesday night and Wednesday morning, according to the Cobleskill Village Police and the Cobleskill State Police.
The break-ins are apparently all related and may be connected to burglaries at businesses throughout the county and surrounding counties over the past year, said Cobleskill Police Chief Michael O’Brien.
There were break-ins and items taken from Amerigas and the Methodist Church in the village, Chief O’Brien said.
Perrone’s, the Good Health Center and Crop Production Services, all on the East End, were hit in the town.
While he did not want to get into the specifics of what was taken, Chief O’Brien urged business owners not to leave cash on site and to make deposits before closing up for the night.
Chief O’Brien said there was no forced entry at the church and Amerigas, but there was an attempted break-in at Harmony Acres on Main Street.
Someone broke a small window, but Chief O’Brien was not sure whether the burglar or burglars gained entry. Nothing was taken.
The break for police came early Wednesday when they received a call at 3:30am about someone trying to gain entry into an East Main Street business through a window.
Police responded to the scene, Chief O’Brien said, and searched the area but found nothing. However, the caller did have a description of the man trying to break into the business.
The person was described as a white man, about six feet tall, with a beard and wearing a knapsack.
Anyone with any information is urged to call police at 234-2923.
Chief O’Brien said last week’s burglaries are similar to those in the county and surrounding areas more than a year ago.
The actions are similar, he said.
“They go in and they’re in for cash and not much else…
“They are not kids. They appear to be experienced.”
There was, however, significant damage to the office at the Methodist Church, he added.
State Police Investigator Steven Koveleskie said that currency and about $200 in Boar’s Head meats were taken from Perrone’s on Route 7 and some change was stolen from the Good Health Center off of Kenyon Drive. It was only a trespass at Crop Production Services.
Small amounts of money were taken from Perrone’s and the Good Health center, Investigator Koveleskie said.
A screen was popped out of a greenhouse to get into Perrone’s.
There were no signs of forced entry at the other two businesses in the town, Investigator Koveleskie said.
There was minimal damage at Perrone’s and none at the others, he said.
Although Investigator Koveleskie did not want to comment on whether the burglaries were connected to prior burglary sprees, he urged people to call 911 if they see anyone suspicious around businesses.
He said that police had no leads in these burglaries.