MEMPHIS, Tenn. — IKEA hasn’t been open even a year in Memphis, but the store’s brought in thousands of people from all over to shop. Unfortunately, it’s also attracted some criminals.
There have been several car break-ins in their lot in recent months and three incidents in just the past two days.
Mattyson Robison and her family are visiting Memphis from Florida and made sure to stop at IKEA while here to stock up.
“Some chairs, some random stuff, like tupperware, silverware, picture frames.”
She didn’t know the same lot they’re loading their new goods in has seen a handful of car break-ins this week.
“Just seems a little crazy.”
She was also surprised to hear the method thieves are using to get into cars. Police reports say they’re destroying the driver door locks and breaking the door handles.
“You don’t really hear about that — breaking off door handles, so it’s kind of scary what people are coming up with to break into things.”
Police say criminals have gotten away with a gun, a laptop and more this week by targeting cars in the parking lot.
There have also been similar incidents recently right down the road from IKEA at Costco. On Thursday, two people reported their driver-side doors damaged and items stolen from inside.
Costco employees told police the surveillance cameras didn’t reach the distance where those victims were parked, but in the IKEA cases, police are gathering video footage.
“If people’s cars are getting broken into, I think they should probably have someone out here trying to stop it,” said shopper JJ Daughtery.
IKEA released the following statement:
“We are aware of some recent car break-ins in this area, and have been working closely with local law enforcement and taken additional steps in response. The safety of our customers and co-workers is our number one priority, so we consider even one break-in to be one too many. While we do not discuss security measures publicly, the Memphis Police Department and Shelby County Sheriff’s Department are on patrol in addition to our own Safety and Security teams. As always, we encourage the public to stay vigilant, to report any suspicious activity, and to conceal any valuables left in parked cars.”
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