Gun stolen in Oak Court Mall vehicle burglaries
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A gun was stolen from a truck as its owner shopped inside Oak Court Mall Wednesday night.
An evening at the mall turned into an evening of drama for one family after they returned to their truck parked outside Macy’s and found the window busted out. Memphis Police say officers responded to the scene at 7:30 p.m.
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“There was glass on the ground. The tray from the console was sitting in the passenger seat and that’s when we realized our truck had been broken into,” one of the victims said.
The couple asked WREG not to use their name but they say the thieves got away with their sense of safety and more.
“I had a weapon in there and that’s the only thing they got,” a victim said. “Just the only thing I really keep in there and all the reason I had it in there then is because I was going in the mall and they always say they had to have big stickers on the windows. They had no guns allowed.”
He says the Springfield Hellcat handgun was locked in a safe in the truck console, but the thieves broke into the safe.
They soon learned another couple, parked in a similar black GMC Sierra truck at the same Macy’s parking lot, also had their truck broken into around the same time. That couple’s ID and medication were stolen.
A witness who talked to WREG by phone captured a photo of what appears to be one of the suspects climbing through the truck window.
“It was a gentleman who jumped out, broke the glass, and was climbing into that black truck in the back seat,” the witness said. “So I got out and started walking over there towards him. That’s when he saw me. I took a picture. He had thrown a couple of bags out.”
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He said the person breaking into the truck appeared to be a teenager.
“He looked like he might have been in high school still. He had on a black COVID mask and his hoodie pulled up, but he was incredibly young,” he said.
He says the suspect looked directly at him before hopping in a get-away car that also had the rear back window busted out.
“They jumped into a maroon Volkswagon and it looked like it had a temporary tag on it and they left,” the witness said.
For this couple, it’s costly and disheartening.
“It was a little terrorizing because I couldn’t really conceptualize a person being able to fit through a window and just climb out and break in without actually opening a door. I thought wow, these people will go to any lengths to try to take something,” a victim said.
“I guess it’s just a price to pay, the price you pay to be in Memphis,” the other victim said. “One day it’s gonna happen to you.”
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