Burglars broke the sliding glass door to gain entry into Fairway early Wednesday morning. Photo by Halie Johnson
In circumstances similar to previous commercial burglaries, including time of night and means of gaining entry, burglars broke into two Idyllwild businesses — Fairway Market and Village Hardware — in the early morning hours of Wednesday, Nov. 14.

Burglars used tools to break the glass of the front door of Fairway Market, succeeding in gaining entry. As of this writing, there is no report of what was stolen. A previous attempt by four hooded individuals took place at the Fairway Market in Strawberry Plaza around 4 a.m. Tuesday, Nov. 6.

Near the same time as the Fairway break in, burglars gained entry to Village Hardware through a back entry and took the store safe and tools. Some of the tools taken may have been used at the Fairway Market break in according to Village Hardware personnel.

Village Hardware owner Larry Donahoo said he was on his way to the grinding station to identify a safe that had been dumped there. Sheriff’s deputies, who had taken an initial report at the hardware store, returned to alert Donahoo to the possible location of his safe. “It will probably be empty,” said Donahoo, “but at least I’ll be able to identify it.”

Hooded assailants also hit the Shell Station, stealing a safe, around 4 a.m. on Monday, Oct. 29.

With a lapse in residential burglaries, there has come an rash in commercial burglaries.

6 COMMENTS

  1. Don't know if it is true…But I had heard around town, the mask of one of the thieves that had broken into Fairway, had fallen away to reveal that low-life's face which supposedly, had been captured clearly by the seurity cameras. If so, hope that pic will be printed. Have an odd feeling that person may live up here on the hill and someone just may recognize that cockroach for extermination..

    • You can bet on the fact that some locals know plenty in their various circles of trashy behavior. People are afraid to file written complaints against such residents and one has to wonder why? Could it be that they themselves have had experiences where they had been totally inconsiderate of their neighbors? And then, embarassed, when they have a problem they are ashamed to seek help from those neighbors that they had ignored? Community is MORE THAN JUST A WARM FUZZY SOUNDING WORD which so many freely use up here. Denial they name is Idyllwild.

  2. about 100 years ago, in a land far away, my grampa bought a big house, orchards, ranch, chickens… After the success of the farm business, a wolf came in every week at 3AM, and stole some. Feathers & blood everywhere.

    People wondered why is this happening now? never had an predators around this area before.

    Then the old guy in the village said: "Did you think the wolf wouldn't come in when you have chickens and he's hungry?

    After a new bloody raids on the hen house and broken hearts over the farm animals, my grandpa hired a village guy to sit in the tree with a shotgun.

    Unfortunately, plenty of damage was done to the surviving injured chicken, they wouldn't lay eggs any more, and not unfit for consumption due to injury and injection.

    The chicken farming was abandoned, and the wolf did not return.

    So now you understand the chronology of what will happen here?

  3. While I do think the Sheriff does a great job, and I'm not knocking them down. The Hill is geographically isolated.

    You can wait 90 mins for the sheriff to take a police report after the crime has occurred, and the burglars are gone, or you can invest in expensive but evidently valuable security system. Such as:

    1) bolting down a safe instead of just parking a metal box in the back room closet.

    2) an audible alarm bell, sure that would disrupt the peaceful mountain town, but you would want to know if it was your home.

    3) I have a friend that works at ADT alarms in another county, he said that 75% of his new customer alarm installations were robbed the week prior. Only 25% of new alarm installations are for cautious reasons with no prior break-ins.

    4) The Second Amendment. Exercise your right. But Idyllwild is a very wimpy hippy commune from the 60s. That is what makes it such an easy target. Most of the residents are a bunch of pussycats. Only 1 in 250 residents can protect themselves, and its usually an old veteran from WWII. The retired senior vet can't do it all on his own.

  4. I have said it before, welcome to Mayberry RFD but no Don Knotts to the rescue! Seeing cruising Sheriffs throughout the town as well as Highway Patrol would help in the wee hours….How many have you seen lately except at a local restaurant or hanging out somewhere else. I remember well the IDYLLWILD CAFE when it was headquarters for SEVERAL Highway Patrol cars and Sheriff's vehicles. People correctly feel that for decades the public service peace officers have used the same old excuses for lack of coverage…I have known this in San Francisco, Palm Springs and Idyllwild. Sure there are some professional officers out there but rarely do you luck out when that minority responds to YOUR call–some 90 minutes or more later. Gosh I consider that pretty fast in my experience!