JACKSONVILLE, Fla. September 5, 2008 -- A man wearing a Santa Claus hat caught on tape breaking into a Westside business from the roof was not there to bestow gifts; instead, he took the store's cash register.
The crook made his way into the Zidal Food Mart on 103rd Street at about midnight .
Police said they believe the burglar got in through the roof and used the air conditioning duct to crawl along the ceiling and eventually break in.
Surveillance video of the store shows the man busting through the air conditioning duct inside the store. At first, his foot was seen hanging from the ceiling, and then his body crashed to the ground.
The man grabbed the cash register and ran for the front door; but he didn't take the store's burglar bars into consideration. The store's alarm wailed as the thief attempted to kick the door open.
The surveillance tape shows that the crook pulled the register through the door after finally kicking a hole in the exit.
The storeowner said the thief went through all of that trouble and got away with only $70.
"It goes to show you the extent that these thieves will go through just to get into a place where they think they can deprive the owner of what they think is in there. It's absolutely absurd," said Jacksonville Sheriff's Office spokesman Ken Jefferson.
Although the thief wasn't in the store long, police said he did more than $1,000 in damage.
