His shop was vandalized with $10,000 in damage. He says police didn’t notify him

By Caroline Coleburn

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    HENRICO COUNTY, Virginia (WTVR) — Brett McCray has sold jewelry and antiques at his store Need-Ful Things & More on Pemberton Road in Henrico for the past seven years.

“It was my dream,” said McCray. “I have five stars. I mean, people love me and my customers. I even give the little ladies little coupons for a hug when they come in, because that’s the type of person I am.”

But Monday morning, the place where McCray finds so much joy became a nightmare.

“I built this business, and now we’re here today because I’m scared,” he explained.

Security video from ADT shows two men breaking in through the back window wearing gloves and masks. You can see them smashing jewelry counters and stealing several items.

Video timestamps show they were in and out in just over one minute, but they caused at least $10,000 worth of damage.

“I was just like, ‘Oh, my God,'” said McCray. “I mean, how does this happen?”

McCray says his alarm company contacted him at 1:57 a.m. Monday, just moments after the break-in occurred. But he was asleep and didn’t answer so he says ADT called Henrico Police.

It wasn’t until 7:30 a.m. Monday McCray learned what had happened.

“I immediately go to my cameras, and I see my store is smashed,” McCray noted. “There’s glass everywhere on the floor. The jewelry counters are smashed, so I immediately just get up, get my clothes on. I fly here. I call Henrico, and on my way here, I’m calling ADT. I said, ‘Are you sure you called the police department?’ They said, ‘Yes, we did. They dispatched and said, there’s nothing. The building is untouched.’”

But McCray says he arrived to find this glass everywhere and gold was missing. He says the store’s alarm was still ringing.

“All night long, from 2 a.m. to 7:30 ’til I got here, my building was unsecure, and the alarm on, and I walk into my building, what if they were still in there or came back to steal something?,” asked McCray. “I could have got killed. I could have got shot, anything. That’s scary to me.”

McCray says Henrico Police met him at his store Monday morning before 8 o’clock. He says a sergeant filed an official report, but McCray is frustrated police didn’t notify him after ADT phoned them to the scene.

“Why did you not call me?” asked McCray. “There was a break-in. It was evident. If you put a flashlight in the window and looked, you would see glass everywhere. If you look a little to the left of that, there’s a hole in the wall 60 by 40. I mean, come on, no evident break-in. That makes no sense.”

CBS 6 reached out to Henrico Police and received a statement reading in part, “At 2:05 a.m., a Henrico police officer arrived on scene to investigate the call for service. Following the officer’s check of the building and attempts to make entry, nothing suspicious was noted and the officer cleared from the scene.”

The Statement goes on to say, “The Office of Internal Affairs is reviewing the call for service to see if there were any violations of policy or procedure. Meanwhile, detectives in our Criminal Investigations Section continue to follow up on tips in this burglary. Anyone with information is asked to contact Det. Silcox at (804) 501-4897 or by using Crime Stoppers at (804) 780-1000.”

Meanwhile, McCray will have to close up shop for several days.

“I’m just a small business owner, that’s it,” he explained. “Just trying to make a living, and I’m just, I’m really hurt. I’m going to have to shut down to get three pairs done. I got a welder coming out to do some work.”

He’s hoping this is a one-time incident and doesn’t happen to any other business owners in the area.

“We have to, as a community, get together and keep our eyes open and talk to each other, you know, because it’s just, it’s just sad.”

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