By PATRICK ADRIAN
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SPRINGFIELD, Vt. — A reported burglary at Springfield’s Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) post resulted in theft of the VFW’s safe and minor damage early yesterday morning.
Springfield police responded to a burglary alarm at the VFW on River Street at approximately 2:18 a.m., according to a Springfield Police Department report. The report stated that officers found forced entry into the building. A safe and money were taken from the building when the perpetrators fled on foot.
Vito DeMarco, club manager of Post 771, said that the suspect appeared to enter the building by knocking the air conditioning unit from a window. The building’s burglar alarm was set outside the office. The point of entry allowed the suspect to enter the office and steal the safe without activating the alarm.
“The police called me this morning, and I came down to turn off the alarm,” DeMarco said.
DeMarco said he is working with the security company to connect the alarm system to the office doors. The most extensive damage was to the window.
The safe mostly contained money earned from the VFW’s weekly bingo games, which the post runs for charitable collections, DeMarco said.
Despite the disruption and some damage, most of which is to the window, DeMarco said the VFW’s regular events will continue as scheduled, including its weekly Monday night bingo.
“The ladies who play bingo wouldn’t let me cancel [if I wanted to],” DeMarco laughed.
The Springfield Police Department is requesting that anyone with information as to who this subject(s) may be and their whereabouts contact the Springfield Police Department to speak with Sgt. Call at 802-885-2113.
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