Break-ins leave feelings of insecurity

After two coin-operated machines at Bob's Car Clean were broken into over the weekend, owner Bob Long said the aftermath is a feeling of unsettling insecurity.

Saturday night, a coin-operated air machine and a coin operated vacuum were broken into at Bob's Car Clean, which sits at 520 N. Sixth St., causing more than $1,500 worth of damage, along with an unknown amount of money being taken.

This isn't the first time this has happened according to Long, who said despite sitting directly under a street light on a busy strip of road, the machines get hit every couple of months, even resulting in his having to completely replace the air machine more than once.

"They sit here under this street lamp, and it has to take them 45 minutes or more to cause this kind of damage," Long said, "I just don't see how they do it without being seen."

For Long, who's business has been broken into several times, he said he's not as concerned about the money taken, which he estimates at roughly $40-$50, or the damages done to the machine, although it is costly, but rather his inability to feel secure about his property that gets to him the most.

"You know, it's not about the quarters, it's about the insecurity you feel when this keeps happening," Long said.

The Blytheville Police Department is investigating the incident. Anyone with any information should contact BPD at 870-762-0405 or Bob Long at 870-763-7333.

cpinkard@blythevillecourier.com