By Mike McCombs
The Island News
“I was actually offended,” Natalie Wohlwend said. “They did not even grab a bar of soap or lotion or anything on the way out. They couldn’t have got some soap or lotion or something. I was kind of offended by that. They didn’t even smell anything, any of the good stuff. I’m trying not to take it personally.”
She’s OK making jokes about it now. But last Tuesday, Wohlwend likely wasn’t in a joking mood.
Wohlwend’s business – Bathe, which sells soaps, lotions and rubber duckies, at 210 Scott Street – was broken into early Tuesday morning, June 27.
And she wasn’t alone. The same thing happened early the next morning to NeverMore Books at 910 Port Republic Street, owned by Dave and Lorrie Anderson. A crime so similar, it would be hard to convince someone they weren’t committed by the same person.
Wohlwend said the crime was simple. At about 3:30 a.m., Tuesday, someone busted in the bottom of the door at Bathe with a jack from a car. The thief smashed through the door, yanked out the register and left through the hole they came in through. All in a matter of minutes.
They made off with around $450.
Wohlwend found out what had happened thanks to an early morning phone call from Jake Higgins, owner of Blackstone’s Cafe across the street from Bathe.
“When Jake Higgins’ staff was coming to work, they noticed my door was busted in,” Wohlwend said. “Jake called me – nobody calls me that early – and he just said your store got broken into. He called the police before he called me, between 6:30 and 7 a.m.”
Wohwend said her heart sank. She was certain she’d lose at least a whole day of business. She was happy to be proven wrong.
“First of all, Carolina Glass. You have to give them a shout out,” she said. “I was worried. My products melt in the heat, and we were losing (air conditioning through the door). I called them at 7:15, they were there measuring by 8:30.”
Carolina Glass didn’t immediately have a new piece of glass in the size Wohlwend needed, but they dug up an older piece of glass and put it in the door temporarily, acquiring a new piece and replacing it by the next day.
“Honestly I was very shocked, they were great,” Wohlwend said.
Meanwhile, Bathe got some help from neighbors.
James Duffy, owner of Duffy’s Antiques on Bay Street and President of the Downtown Merchants’ Association, had the day off. But he saw the video of the break-in Wohlwend had shared on Facebook and wanted to help.
He brought a portable air conditioner over to keep Wohlwend’s products cool while the door was wide open, and he then helped sweep up glass.
“You should always help when you can, especially when it’s easy to help,” he said. “It was just around the corner.”
“I will tell you, I’ve gotten bottles of wine and gifts and flowers,” Wohlwend said. “Everybody has been overwhelmingly kind. That’s the community we live in.”
Upon inspection, despite the cash drawer being ripped out of Bathe’s register, nothing was broken and the unit still functioned, allowing Wohlwend to have her business up and running again by 1 p.m.
Not a smooth repeat
The next morning, someone attempted to commit virtually the same crime just a couple blocks away.
At about 3:15 a.m. (4:15 a.m., in Beaufort), Lorrie Anderson, out of town in Illinois, was awakened by a phone call from the City of Beaufort Police Department. Someone had broken the glass in the door and entered NeverMore Books, the business she owns with her husband, Dave Anderson.
Police needed someone with a key to come down and let them in. She called her husband, and Dave Anderson let officers in the business to make sure no one was still inside.
“I believe that they think it’s the same person,” Wohlwend said. “To do it again, the same thing, 24 hours later, is crazy.”
It became evident, however, this intruder, the same one or not, had not had as easy a time as the one did at Bathe.
Because of safety glass, as well as window tint on both sides of the door, Dave Anderson said that while the door shattered, the glass wouldn’t come out. Whoever broke the door spent a good bit of time peeling back a piece of the window so that they could crawl through into the bookstore.
Unlike Bathe, NeverMore didn’t have a register with a cash drawer, so there was no cash immediately available for the taking. Lorrie Anderson said the thief rifled through papers on the desk and the shelf next to it, even opening a bank statement, but took nothing.
Also, near the front of NeverMore Books, crews had recently been doing concrete work on the sidewalk. When the intruder finally entered the store after making through the difficult glass, they couldn’t help but bring concrete dust with them.
“There were perfect footprints throughout the store,” Dave Anderson said.
Eventually, the intruder knew they were out of time and left. But not before leaving an important calling card.
In the process of getting through the broken door, the intruder cut themselves.
“He bled on a few things,” Dave Anderson said. “So they’ve got his or her DNA.”
The Andersons closed the store for a day to replace the glass in the door, giving more kudos to Beaufort Glass for their quick response.
Dave Anderson also said City of Beaufort Police Investigator Tony Re was thorough and helpful.
“It’s just that not a lot happened,” Dave Anderson said. “It was pretty cut and dried.”
Nonetheless, that this could happen twice in such a small window is troubling.
“Two nights in a row. It’s something we take very seriously as an organization,” Duffy said. “The police have been helpful. They’ve increased their presence downtown.”
Something positive that has happened though has been the support from friends and neighbors of the owners of both of these businesses.
“It’s been really nice,” Dave Anderson said. “Many have offered condolences. They ask if I need anything. There’s been a lot of community support.”
“I, honestly, had been in kind of in a rut,” Wohlwend said. “But these are my people. Our customers have been so … overwhelming and made me rethink where I was at and not be so selfish and self-centered.”
Mike McCombs is the Editor of The Island News and can be reached at TheIslandNews@gmail.com.
