Foothills store burglarized twice
Cash and jewelry stolen from Aunt San’s Attic

by Jason Stone

CAREFREE – Alice Blackmore updated the front of Aunt San’s Attic last week with two new windows. However, the Spanish Village business owner didn’t do it as part of a remodeling project.

Blackmore was the victim of two burglaries within a week, with thieves taking off with about $10,000 in cash and merchandise and forcing the store to spend about $5,000 in extra security measures after the second break‑in.

“The police think it’s definitely the same people–it’s definitely connected,” Blackmore said. “The second time they totally trashed the place. They were looking for cash, but there wasn’t any on the premises (after the first break‑in).”

Burglars first broke into Aunt San’s Attic on May 21. They entered through a large display window in the front, took cash and jewelry and attempted to take a laptop computer.

After Blackmore had the window replaced, burglars struck again May 27, forcing the store to add security bars on the door and a security camera system.

“It really distresses me that we have to do that in this town,” Blackmore said about the extra security measures. “If they try to it again, we’ve got cameras now.”

The break‑ins likely occurred in the early evening, according to Blackmore.

“This area is not really populated after four in the afternoon,” Blackmore said. “Spanish Village on the north side, they have a lot of traffic, but this little courtyard is pretty dead.”

The stolen jewelry was “mostly one of a kind,” Blackmore related, and included precious stones, Indian costume jewelry and topaz.

Reach the reporter at jason@thedesertadvocate.com.