Sep. 29--A Beckley pet groomer, lumber yard, law office, hair salon, consignment store and car rental company may have very little in common -- except city police believing the same people could have burglarized all of them.

Now, they're adding an office supply store to the list.

Sometime Saturday or Sunday, BJW Printing and Office Supplies on Robert C. Byrd Drive was burglarized, said Capt. Jeff Shumate, chief of detectives. The suspects took a locked box containing an undisclosed amount of cash.

The suspects entered the store by removing the door's lock device -- just like what happened in a rash of other business break-ins in the city.

Between November 2008 and March 2009, eight businesses located near Appalachian Drive or Ragland Road were burglarized using the same method, according to Detective Sgt. David Allard. These included Fleet Pride Inc., National TV, the O.C. Cluss lumber yard, The Pampered Pet, Beckley Plaza mall, the Sparacino law office, Tamarack LTD Home Health Care and Marquee Cinemas corporate office.

Then in late August, six more businesses were hit, including National TV, the Blue Roo consignment shop, the Hair Studio, Plaza Cleaners, Rent-A-Center and Enterprise Rent-A-Car.

Also, the suspects mostly stole cash or appeared to make an attempt, Allard said. Shumate noted the suspects sometimes left empty-handed. Besides the cash, only very small items not considered extremely valuable have been taken.

Shumate said the method and, in some cases, geographic locations seem to be the common thread.

While emphasizing this could only be speculation in these particular cases, Shumate noted a high percentage of these types of crimes are drug-related. Break-ins involving only cash theft -- quickly obtaining money versus having to pawn stolen property -- are often tied to the drug trade.

No arrests have been made.

Anyone with information about these crimes is encouraged to call the Beckley Police Department at 304-256-1708 or Crime Stoppers at 304-255-7867.

-- E-mail: apridemore@

register-herald.com

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