Car crashes into Richmond business during alleged robbery attempt

RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — A business owner in Richmond is picking up the pieces after an attempted robbery early Monday morning.

According to the Richmond Police Department, three suspects tried to break into a store off of North 8th Street just before 1 a.m., using a stolen Honda Accord to slam through the front of the business.

The store that was damaged in the incident was Tom Kirkland Opticians. Owner Thomas Kirkland said he has been there cleaning up since.

“I haven’t had much sleep or much to eat because I gotta get it secured,” Kirkland said.

Police said the three suspects crashed into the store front several times trying to break in. When they couldn’t get inside, they fled the scene before officers arrived.

Kirkland has been trying to stay optimistic since the incident.

“We’re not going to close, we’re going to reopen,” Kirkland said. “But we’ve got to get this taken care of before we can do that, but we’re still working. We’re still here. We’re still going to be here, because we want to serve our customers.”

Kirkland said he’s been selling eyeglasses at his store on North 8th Street since the 1980’s. He said he’s grateful for the support he’s been getting from the city and the community.

“People have been coming by, pulling up, getting out of the car, they’re taking pictures and they’re checking to see if I’m okay,” Kirkland said.

Kirkland said he’s hoping to reopen in the next couple of weeks. In the meantime, he encourages anyone who stops by to leave a positive message if they can.

“We’re going to have a message wall and we’re going to have a little pins here, and we would love [for] people to come by and write a positive good message for the City of Richmond,” Kirkland said.

Anyone with any information on this incident or the whereabouts of the suspects is asked to contact the Richmond Police Department at 804-646-6820.

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