Dave Askew, owner of Askew Jewelers in downtown St. Cloud, is hoping his recent experience with an attempted break in will cause other local businesses to make sure their security systems are ready for what looks to be an unfortunate trend of burglaries in Central Florida, and recently, in the St. Cloud area.

Early Sunday morning thieves cut the power to the store, and then left to see if the store would discover their plan to break in. The thieves returned early Monday morning around 1 am intending to break into the family-owned St. Cloud jewelry store. Fortunately, barricades and additional security systems installed by Askew foiled the attempt, causing the potential thieves to move on.

“They did open up the power meter on the outside of the store and remove something, trying to keep OUC fr0m being notified that the power was out, so these guys knew what they were doing. They’re smart,  but they never made it inside the store, thankfully,” Askew added.

With the hustle and bustle of the holiday season comes an increase in illegal activity, but St. Cloud Police are aware of the disturbing trend and are investigating the attempted burglary as well as other nearby break-ins that have taken place recently in and around St. Cloud and may be linked to the attempted burglary at Askew Jewelers.

“St cloud continues to be one of the safest places to live in Florida but we know historically that there is an increase in crime leading to the holidays. Please stay vigilant and if you see anything suspicious don’t hesitate call us,” Officer Wayne Souza said in response to the attempted St. Cloud break-in. 

Askew, a former city councilman, sits on numerous boards in the area, and along with his wife, are very active in and around the St. Cloud community.

“Really, I just want to make sure other local businesses, and other local jewelry stores are aware of the thieves making their way around the community. I was unaware of the problem until it happened to us,” Askew said. We work hard and we like the community, but this isn’t a good thing, and people need to know what’s happening.

Askew wants to remind other business owners to check the batteries on their security systems, and to make sure they are aware of the local burglary trend.

Anyone with information about the suspects is asked to call Crimeline at 800-423-TIPS or St. Cloud Police at (407) 891-6700.