From our September 28, 2000, edition.

Thieves pocket $2000 from local business 

By Roger Estlack, Clarendon Enterprise

A band of thieves distracted a local merchant and stole more than $2,000 worth of merchandise last week.

Terri Floyd of Every Nook and Cranny said a group of three men and three women passed by her store on Kearney Street last Wednesday afternoon and looked in the windows while she was helping some customers.

“I noticed them looking inside, but then they walked on down the street,” Floyd said.

When the customers left at about 3 p.m., the group of six came back, and Floyd said she could tell something wasn’t right.

“I just felt like they were going to do something; I didn’t know what,” she said.

One of the group said they were from Pampa, and another said they were “just passing through.” That didn’t bother Floyd too much as several tourists had been in the shop that day. But some of the group did behave oddly, by staring at the shopkeeper to keep her on edge.

One of the women brought an $8 candle to the counter and asked Floyd to wrap it, which meant she had to go to the back of the store.

“I just grabbed a bag and some tissue paper and came right back to the front,” Floyd said.

At that point four of the people went out the door while the others visited with the shopkeeper. When they left, Floyd immediately noticed two watches missing and went to the door. She said two of the people got in a champagne colored SUV, and the others got in another vehicle. The SUV didn’t have a front tag, so she was unable to get a license number.

The entire hit had taken less than ten minutes, Floyd said.  She called the sheriff’s office at 3:15 and then called other local merchants to alert them.

After doing an inventory, the store lost an estimated $2,300 worth of merchandise in jewelry, cologne, and accessories.

“We’ve had a few things taken in the past, but we have never had a hit like this,” she said. “We’re prepared now with emergency phone numbers and will have more staff in the store.”

The theft was particularly hard since the business, formerly known as The Nook, had been closed for 2½ months for remodeling. Floyd said they had just been re-opened for a week and a half when the robbery occurred.

The same group of people were spotted in Poor Boy’s Antiques and were reportedly seen on the sidewalk near Henson’s.

No other business has reported being shoplifted by this group, but authorities are hoping that someone saw them. All six were Hispanic in appearance and in their mid 30s. They all appeared to be very clean cut.

Chief Deputy Butch Blackburn said the sheriff’s office alerted Memphis and Claude to watch for the thieves’ vehicle to no avail.

Teletypes were sent to all law enforcement agencies in the Panhandle to see if any other community had either seen the thieves or if there were any other reports of the same modus operandi. As of Monday afternoon, there had been no response to the teletypes.

All local businesses should be aware of this tactic and watch for it.

If anyone saw this band of criminals, please call the Donley County Sheriff’s Office at 874-3533.