Dry Cleaner break-ins hit Lake Wylie, Fort Mill

The first week of a new year wasn’t a good one for local dry cleaners.

Three dry cleaners were broken into, though the damage breaking in outweighed the value of anything stolen.

A front glass door was broken and a cash register stolen Jan. 2 at Lake Wylie Dry Cleaners on Evergreen Road. Almost $160 was reported missing.

“They just broke through the door and took a register,” said owner Hlao Vang.

The business provided surveillance showing two men, estimated as teens to mid-20s. A worker from a neighboring business didn’t see the suspects, but called authorities when he heard the alarm sound and noticed broken glass around 8 a.m.

As law enforcement processed the scene, owners began hearing another Lake Wylie location was hit. Vang has been open about three years and hasn’t had prior problems with break-ins. He found the two incidents unusual.

“I don’t know what’s going on,” he said.

A burglary at The Cleaners at Lake Wylie occurred sometime between late Dec. 31 to Jan. 2. The business in Lake Wylie Plaza isn’t affiliated with the one on Evergreen. Yet the incidents were similar enough to where employees at both feel the same people are responsible.

“We were not open,” said Becky Gardner at The Cleaners. “We were closed Friday, New Year’s Day.”

A window was smashed open but it didn’t appear to investigators that anyone made it inside. The incident was similar to one two months ago at a jewelry store beside the dry cleaners.

“No money was taken,” Gardner said, her window still boarded up several days later. “We don’t keep money here, and they don’t keep money there (at Lake Wylie Dry Cleaners).”

Gardner didn’t see why dry cleaners would be a target.

“Most of our people don’t even pay with cash,” she said. “It’s not worth going to jail over.”

Between the shattered glass door and lost register, Lake Wylie Dry Cleaners had about $1,000 in damage. The Cleaners had about $400 in damage. Both were back open for business soon after the incidents.

Sometime from the late afternoon of Jan. 2 to early afternoon Jan. 3, Regal Cleaners on Regent Parkway in Fort Mill had its glass door shattered. Incident reports don’t state what items may have been stolen. Officers say someone broke into the business and went through shelves behind the counter. That case remains open.

The first week of 2016 was a busy one for law enforcement. In Lake Wylie there were 18 incidents, including seven thefts, five property crimes and an assault. The area also had the first homicide in York County for 2016, which is still under investigation. The incident occurred on Pine Moss Lane.

This story was originally published January 8, 2016 at 11:46 AM with the headline "Dry Cleaner break-ins hit Lake Wylie, Fort Mill."