Investigators with the Panola County Sheriff’s Office are seeking the public’s help to find the person who burglarized the Dollar General located on Hwy. 6E across from the Wildwood Subdivision and near Terza Road.

The bandit stole an estimated $4,400 from the store’s safe in a burglary scene that was very similar, detectives said, to the one at the Dollar General on Hentz Road that was burglarized about three years ago.

In that crime, a handheld grinder was used to cut a hole in the back of the building. In the Pope incident, a deputy got to the scene in six minutes and a deputy responded to an automatic alarm on Hwy. 6E within five minutes. In both cases, the perpetrator was gone when the law enforcement officer arrived.

Major Clint Roberson said the call came to the dispatch about 4 a.m. on Oct. 28. All doors were secure and the store was empty five minutes later.

Roberson said footage indicates the criminal worked slowly once he had created an opening, and apparently inched on his stomach to the front of the store, avoiding the detection of the alarm system.

Once at the safe he methodically cut the door from its hinges with a grinder and possibly a portable torch. The alarm only sounded when he stood up after removing the money. His exit from the building took just a few seconds, leaving deputies no opportunity to follow.

Anyone with information about the burglary is asked to call CrimeStoppers at 662-209-2011 to leave a tip for investigators.