Thieves break through wall of Detroit store taking Newports, Hennessy

Thieves break through a brick wall and ransack a Detroit convenience store - caught on camera.

Armed with a sledgehammer, thieves were after Hennessy and Newport cigarettes. 

Cartons of cigarettes and loads of lottery tickets - these thieves can be seen barely holding on to everything.

At about 4:50 a.m. Wednesday, several men used a sledgehammer to break through a wall and into the A.W. Market on Mack near Connor.

On camera you can see three men climbing inside and they knew just what they were after.

"All the high-priced liquor, all the big bottles," said owner Al Watha. "You can see we don't have any big bottles left - 1800, Patron, anything that is higher priced plus the Newport cigarettes."

And this is the second time in two months. The last time they went through the back and the thieves were caught in the act.

"Two brick walls, they went right through them and came right in," Watha said.

Watha says this store has been in their family since 1968. He and his brother have been running it since 1978.

"We've been here for so long, every customer who comes in here is family to us," Watha said. "You don't go anywhere and see a liquor store with no glass."

Al estimates the thieves made off with between $8,000 and $12,000 worth of inventory. They're still finding cartons of cigarettes the thieves dropped while on their way out. 

And yes, police have dusted them for fingerprints.

Then there's the damage to the building.

The Wathas are determined to keep this store that's been in their family for so many years.

"I'm good to my customers, my customers are good to me," Watha said. "I'm not worried about somebody, about a break in. What can you do? It's part of business."

Anyone with information please contact Detroit police.