Salvation Army Safe Stolen

Broken bolts are all that's left of the safe that was literally ripped from the floor of the manager's office at the Salvation Army Thrift Store in Manchester.
 
Workers arrived Tuesday morning to find the safe stolen.
 
"They were going to count the drawers and put the money in the registers and she called me and said there's a problem," said Cori Cass, the store manager. "The safe's not here."
The safe contained gift cards and money from store sales. The Salvation Army isn't saying how much money was taken.

"We had actually just made a deposit, so that was a good thing," Cass said. "But it was the money for the drawers for the next day, and every little bit of money helps."

The thieves left the door to the office and the front door to the store unlocked. The manager thinks someone may have been hiding inside the store, waiting for everyone to leave.

That left store employee Janice Matthews on edge.

"Very violated, very violated. It's very creepy," Matthews said. "You have to think twice now because you can't trust everyone."

Customers also couldn't believe someone would stoop so low, right before the holidays.

"It's a little too low," Carol Peterson of Manchester said. "I mean the people here are here to help, and to come in and do something like that, it's just not right."

Money from store sales go to funding programs that help those going through hard times. The store manager says if the burglar needed help, all he had to do was ask.

"The Salvation Army is very giving," Cass said. "They help anybody that needs help."

It's something Janice Matthews knows firsthand and why she finds the burglary so upsetting.

"I myself have been homeless before and I needed help and the Salvation Army helped me," Matthews said. "So I think it's awful."

Contact Us