The newsagents at the railway station in the Flemish Brabant town of Landen was burgled for the fourth time in less than two years on Monday night. The burglar forced the door with a crowbar, but was forced to leave empty-handed when the shop’s smoke alarm went off.
Home News
Smoke screen chases burglar from newsagent in Landen
Published:
On Monday night there was yet another break-in at the railway station newspaper store in Landen. However, this time nothing was taken as the shop filled with smoke triggering its smoke alarm.
Newsagent Vincent Graindor was awakened by a call from the alarm monitoring centre he uses to protect his shop. He was able to follow the attempted burglary live via the security camera in his store. "The thief forced the heavily secured door with a crowbar and walked to the cash register. But when he broke it open, the smoke alarm went off and blocked the front door again. The thief was able to pry the front door open again and flee. It all took barely half a minute."
Fourth burglary
It is fourth burglary at Vincent’s business in less than two years. In March 2023, thieves made off with cigarettes. In November 2022, they smashed a window to get in and stole several hundred euros from the cash register. The time before, 54 euro was stolen from the shop.
"This time there was no money in the till". Vincent Graindor told VRT News that he no longer feels safe.
There is still no trace of the perpetrator for the time being, but he is recognisable from the CCTV images. Vincent describes the burglar as “A white man, with a pointed nose and a beard. I think he knew the shop. Maybe it's someone from that lives locally?"