The Dugout loses pricey items in burglary

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) - James McWhorter knows there are advantages and disadvantages of being a local business owner.

McWhorter believes one of the disadvantages includes the risks associated with retail.

Sunday morning, someone broke into his business, The Dugout, located at 5703 W. Morris St.

McWhorter told police the thief took a signed Peyton Manning football valued at $1,000, Magic Johnson and Michael Jordan trading cards, Xbox and cash.

McWhorter says he was “just devastated” when he found out. He said it took the thief about eight minutes to swipe nearly $8,000 worth of items.

“Not all that stuff was for sale,” he said. “It’s a personal business me and my wife have owned for 15 years.”

The Dugout is a sports memorabilia store; however, the thief gained entry through an adjacent building. McWhorter says the man seen wearing Michael Jordan gym shoes on the surveillance video  used a hammer to bust  a window of an adjacent business to gain entry. 

McWhorter says some of the items stolen were sentimental.

“The controllers are what I got from my son on Father’s Day two years ago,” McWhorter said, adding his son was with him when he filed the police report. “It broke my heart.”

McWhorter said his store was burglarized a few years ago. He hopes it doesn’t happen again.

“It still makes you leery,” he said. “You aren’t going to take out your frustrations on loyal customers that have been with you 15 years.”

Meanwhile, police haven’t arrested anyone. Surveillance video shows a white man wearing red and black shoes taking the items.

“We are not going to let it get us down to much,” he said. “We have faith in the system and God that things will work out.”

McWhorter says they have already started making changes around the building in an attempt to prevent another incident.

One example, the window that was broken with a hammer has been has been replaced with a break-resistant glass called polycarbonate.