A business ram-raided and ransacked in an industrial area of Dubbo in the early hours of Tuesday morning has sustained damage estimated at more than $30,000.
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Western Plains Windows and Glass in Douglas Mawson Drive was hit in the brazen break and enter.
As co-owner Rhonda Lutt told of the shock of finding “one hell of a mess” she added her voice to a police appeal for information from the public to catch the culprits.
“If anybody knows anything, saw anything, heard anything… can they please contact the police,” she said.
Ms Lutt spoke to the Daily Liberal from the shop’s entryway, where temporary repairs were being carried out to take the place of the smashed glass doors.
The business has CCTV footage of the early morning ram-raid, seen by the Daily Liberal.
An alarm was set off at the location and the owners arrived a short time later.
“When we got down here, one hell of a mess,” Ms Lutt said.
“You’ve got two auto doors completely smashed in, just glass [everywhere].”
Ms Lutt reported the petty cash tin was missing and the culprits had been through the office, pulling out filing cabinets and scattering files.
“They were obviously looking for money in the cabinets,” she said.
It was an awful experience for the business operators of 17 years.
“It was a bit of a shock when I saw it I thought, my God, you see these things happen to other people on TV, but when it happens to you and you see it, you think, oh, hell,” Ms Lutt said.
“The old stomach sinks and yeah, you just feel sick.”
The team pitched in to be ready to serve customers on Tuesday morning.
Police are investigating the break and enter.
Inspector Dan Skelly said about 2.30am the alarm was activated at the location with the owner arriving a short time later to find the premises had been ransacked.
It appeared a motor vehicle was used to drive into and smash open the front doors to the premises, he said.
The interior of the business was then ransacked.
It had not been confirmed what, if anything, was taken but the damage caused had been estimated to be at least $30,000, he said.
“A white utility was seen to leave the area around the time of the break-in,” Inspector Skelly said.
“Several hours after the incident a utility was found burnt out on the Golden Highway a few kilometres east of Dubbo.
“It has not been confirmed that the burnt out utility is the same one seen on Douglas Mawson Drive.”