Thieves make off with $70,000 in merchandise

By Chris Mailloux

A robbery has left a local video game store to pick up the pieces after a significant amount of merchandise was stolen.

The Game MD on 5452 Tecumseh Rd. E. was broken into Nov. 3. The thieves made off with an estimated total of over $70,000 worth of merchandise. Some of the merchandise included 80 copies of Call of Duty: Ghosts for Xbox 360 and 60 for the PlayStation 3.

Francis Roy McLean, owner of Game MD, said it’s disappointing that someone would break in and steal their merchandise.

“When I came in there was no beep at the door and the power to the alarm keypad was down,” said McLean. “That’s when I noticed the store had been broken in to.”

The robbery happened just two days before the midnight launch of Call of Duty: Ghosts, which McLean had to cancel because of the situation. With 60 copies of the PlayStation 3 and 80 of the Xbox 360 stolen, that alone amounts to over $9,000 worth of merchandise.

According to McLean the robbers focused on new games and systems while avoiding the older games. McLean also said that the robbers knew exactly where to break in, where the alarms and motion sensors were not in the store and even stole a laptop containing all security camera footage.

Dan Matte, a regular customer of the store, decided to visit after hearing about the break in.

“Roy is one of the nicest people I’ve ever met and this is my favourite place to go in Windsor,” said Matte. “It’s devastating to see all these empty shelves and that it’s all gone.”

Matte said seeing the shelves so bare made him a little sick to his stomach since he’s so used to seeing the shelves filled with games.

Sgt. Matthew D’Asti of the Windsor Police Service said that officers arrived at the store Monday, responding to a call from McLean.

“Suspects took some steps to enter the building by removing a section of cinder block, they actually chiseled through the brick wall and cut through some drywall to get inside,” said D’Asti. “Once inside we know that they were able to disable any alarm systems that were in the building.”

D’Asti said if people come across any games at a suspiciously discounted price they should contact the police. If you have any information on the break-in you can contact Windsor & Essex County Crime Stoppers at 519-258-8477.