1.25.24 – Enid, Okla. (KFOR)
Thieves snuck into an Enid museum, but cameras were watching and so was one of their moms.
She spotted her son on social media and called police.
Security footage captured two burglars chugging along through The Railroad Museum of Oklahoma early Wednesday morning.
Mike Marshall is president of the board at the museum; he said the thieves went off-the-rails grabbing valuable model trains.
“You feel violated. You feel upset,” said Marshall. “They were able to just carry what they could put in a box.”
Marshall said the thieves managed to get inside by slipping their hands through the mailbox and coming right through the front door.
“You’d think they’d have better things to do,” he said.
Footage shows the moment the two juveniles realize they were caught on camera.
“The male, he looked very familiar,” said Robert McFadden with the Enid Police Department. “He’s one of our known offenders.”
Then, police received an unexpected tip.
“I get a call from the kids mom who had seen a post from the railroad museum and said, ‘That looks like my kid,’” said McFadden.
That’s when officers arrived at the teen’s house, finding both him and his girlfriend.
“He fessed up, showed me the trains, and I took him and his girlfriend into custody,” said McFadden. “It’s always a win when we can try to pull somebody off the street who doesn’t need to be on the street.”
A small victory for police and now a powerful lesson for Marshall.
“We knew that we had things we needed to do security wise, but we didn’t really realize where our vulnerability was, so this has been a learning experience for us,” added Marshall.
Both juveniles were charged with second degree burglary and knowingly concealing stolen property.
Museum officials think all of the stolen items were returned, but they plan to do an inventory to make sure.