Kingsville Convenience Store Owner Fed Up With Burglaries

Khawaja Amin said his business, one of Kingsville's few convenience stores, has been long enough.

The , in the Plaza Shopping Center along the 11700 block of Belair Road, has been broken into , most recently at the end of last month, police reports show.

"It's back and forth, every three to four months," Amin said. "Why? I have no idea."

At about 1 a.m., on Nov. 30, unidentified burglars wearing ski masks cut the store's phone and alarm lines, damaged a door and stole $150 in cash and 20 cartons of cigarettes, a police report shows.

Surveillance camera footage showed the burglars running away on Goettner Road, behind the store. Police responded to a burglary alarm that night, but were unable to locate any suspects, said Lt. Ron Brooks of the .

A was reported in August, when $200 in cash was stolen, a door was destroyed and phone lines were cut, causing $2,500 in damage, according to a police report.

Following that incident, Amin said he had additional surveillance cameras and lights installed outside the store.

"Even then, there was still a break-in," he said.

The county's burglary unit is investigating the latest incident and trying to determine the root of the repeated crimes, Brooks said.

While police reports do not show a significant increase in crime in the Kingsville area, Amin said he believes the community is less safe than it used to be.

"I think it's on the rise, in Kingsville, Bel Air, everywhere," he said.

Are the Kingsville and Perry Hall communities as safe as they used to be? Tell us in the comments.