Spartanburg Police see uptick in vape shop burglaries
SPARTANBURG, S.C. (WSPA) – Multiple investigations are underway in Spartanburg over a string of vape shop burglaries.
On September 6, 2024, officers with the Spartanburg Police were called to Sal's Tobacco and Vape Shop after it was broken into. Since then, burglaries at vape shops have become more frequent, according to police.
'What we noticed is we had three [burglaries] in 2024, and 11 this year. Although we have break-ins on a regular basis, this looks like it is a trend for vape shops in particular,' Major Art Littlejohn with the Spartanburg Police said.
Out of the 14 burglaries, only two cases had arrests, leaving 12 cases unsolved.
'In some of the cases, they are ramming out the entire wall of the business or the front doors,' Littlejohn said. 'Now we have replace the wall, replace the cabinets that they are being stored in. That's a big expense for our business owners.'
Some stores were hit multiple times, such as Sal's Vape Shop. The store had been broken into for a second time on April 18, 2025.
Police said surveillance video showed a Chevrolet Suburban ram into the right side of the shop. Two masked individuals entered the store, fired a weapon at the glass cabinets and fled the scene with several items, estimating to cost $20,000 dollars.
Suspects stole $20K in products from Spartanburg vape shop
'The reason that we started to look at it and investigate it more closely is that with these vape shops, people are taking stolen cars; they will steal a car, use that car to break into a business, get the items and drop the stolen car back off,' Littlejohn said. 'What we are trying to do is figure out whether or not all the cases are connected, they could be, [or] it could be one or two that is connected, and maybe not all of them.'
If you have any information on these cases, you can leave a tip for the Spartanburg Police Department by calling Crimes Stoppers at 1(888) CRIMESC.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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