Daring tire heist foiled by misjudged tunnel

updated 9:34 p.m. ET Dec. 7, 2007

COOS BAY, Ore. - A burglar who tunneled under a wall to access a Coquille tire shop did not have a good exit plan. The burglar was unable to remove anything because the tires were too large to fit through the mouth of the hole.

Officers received a report earlier this week of a hole outside Steele's Universal Tire & Wheel Inc. The hole led into the shop's dirt-floor storage room. It was roughly 2 feet in diameter and several feet long. But not big enough for the tires.

The storage room is connected to the business but does not lead to all areas of the business. The only items stored in the storage room were semitruck tires.

"That's the first time I've ever seen something like that," said Sgt. Patrick Smith, of the Coquille Police Department. "It was pretty comical."

The break-in is believed to be connected to an incident at a local eatery discovered earlier that day.

Police say fingerprints and other evidence connecting the two crimes were found at the tire store.

According to the Coos Bay Police Department press log, officers responded to a burglary report at Joe's Place earlier the same day.

A window was open at the restaurant and the business ransacked; $63.61 was missing. A safe in the restaurant had been moved and showed signs of damage but had not been opened, police said.

Smith said investigators have located a possible suspect.

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