Four downtown Saline businesses victimized by break-ins

Police believe all of the break-ins are related and police reports indicated nothing was stolen from the Spotted Dog Winery, The Cobblestone Rose Gift Shop and Maureen’s Designs. The suspect, or suspects, appeared to be only after cash and pulled out cash register drawers at the gift shop and Maureen’s Designs, but only change was in the drawers and all the money was still there in the morning, reports indicated.

The police report for the break-in at the Spotted Dog Winery did not appear to be complete on Friday morning.

Police were originally dispatched at 8:26 a.m. Thursday to Mac’s Acadian Seafood Shack, 102 E. Michigan Ave., for a report of a burglary. The suspect, or suspects, forcibly gained entry to the store. Nothing besides the $1,015 in cash was taken, according to police.

The break-in at the Spotted Dog Winery, 108 E. Michigan Ave., was also reported at 8:26 a.m. Thursday.

While police were investigating that incident, the owner of The Cobblestone Rose Gift Shop, 101 S. Ann Arbor St., approached police and told them that her store had been broken into as well. The owner showed police that the rear entrance door to the store had been kicked in.

The door leads to a basement, where the store’s office is located, and all of the drawers in the desk had been pulled out, but nothing appeared to be missing, according to the report. In the upstairs gift shop, a cash register drawer had been pulled out but all the change was left in the drawer, according to the report.

Numerous doors in the business had been kicked in, but there was nothing missing from the store. No damage estimate was available Friday.

Police walked through the rest of the business complex located at 101 S. Ann Arbor St. and found another business, Maureen’s Designs, also had the door kicked in. The break-in was very similar to the gift shop incident, with a cash register drawer removed but nothing apparently stolen, according to the report.

Further investigation revealed footprints coming from behind a boulder wall on the lower level near the business complex, according to reports. A rock had apparently been used to break into at least one of the businesses, according to police.

Footprints in the snow near the area indicated the suspect, or suspects, had come from behind the boulder wall, an unusual place for pedestrians to be, jumped over the barrier to the buildings and then had entered the complex, the reports stated.

The break-ins are still under investigation. Anyone with information on the incidents is encouraged to email Det. Don Lupi of the Saline Police Department.