Truck plows through Dollar General store in smash-and-grab

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A truck plowed through a Dollar General store on the Westside on Thursday morning in a smash-and-grab burglary, according to Jacksonville police.

The truck struck the store at 103rd Street and Jammes Road about 4:45 a.m.

The store's front windows were shattered, the wall was damaged, and a water pipe was broken.

Police said there did not appear to be any missing items from the store, and the store's safe was still in place, as was the large storage case full of cigarettes.

Police said surveillance video showed the truck back into the store wall but did not show anyone taking anything. There was about $6,000 in damage.

Witnesses said police recovered the pickup truck used in the burglary.

Maintenance workers for the property manager were cleaning up the mess later Thursday morning.

The scene was just down the street from where a pedestrian was struck by a car and killed about 6 a.m.

Mohamad Abumauli's beauty supply shop is right next door to the Dollar General. He said last month a group backed a pickup truck into the front of the store with the intent of stealing from inside. But according to police, the crooks didn't get away with anything. They did, however, shatter other business owners' sense of safety.

"It makes you feel unsafe and it's a bad reputation for the shopping center," Abumauli said. "No one wants to come over here with all these problems. People say, 'You know what, I'm going to find something else.'"

Business owners said they want to hire security guards to monitor the strip mall 24 hours a day.

"They'll keep trying," Michelle Parade said. "You think if people like that, if they get away with it, they'll keep trying."