Man Arrested After Tunneling Into Sporting Goods Store

[chadtm80]

Man Arrested After Tunneling Into Sporting Goods Store

POSTED: 6:59 a.m. EDT August 14, 2003

TAMPA, Fla. -- A burglar spent at least a week tunneling through 40 feet of dirt and sand before his robbery of a sporting goods store was foiled, authorities said.


Gary Leon Lowden, 43, was still covered with sand and carrying an armful of Tampa Bay Buccaneers jerseys and Nike sneakers when he was caught by deputies near the Sports Authority store, said Hillsborough County sheriff's spokeswoman Debbie Carter.

A cleaning crew showed up at dawn early Wednesday and he "ran and exited through the floor," sheriff's officials said. Deputies were called to the store after something activated a motion sensor alarm.

When they arrived, they saw no evidence of a break-in -- doors were locked and aluminum security gates were tightly shut -- but the crew found a hole in the floor of the store's golf section.

The sheriff's office said Lowden and possibly others used chisels and sledgehammers in the 5-foot-wide tunnel, smashing through the concrete floor and reinforcing the tunnel in places with wooden pallets.

Lowden was jailed on charges of burglary and grand theft. He was carrying about $3,500 worth of apparel, mostly in children's sizes. Authorities were searching for other suspects.

[JetMaxx]

All that hard work for nothing

[JCT777]

You would think if he was going to spend all that time making a tunnel, he would at least choose a better place to rob than a sporting goods store.