Early last spring, thieves stole over $14,000 in gaming accessories and movies from Flint Hills Graphics at 657 Main Street, East Toledo.

The thieves broke in on a Thursday night, and owner Frank Riddle discovered the back door busted open when he arrived the next morning and nearly everything gone inside.

For Riddle, it was enough to put him out of business for seven weeks. Meanwhile, his four employees were also out of work and he was losing hundreds of dollars per day.

Frank Riddle, owner of Flint Hill Graphics & Video, stands in front of his stire at 657 Main St. Easy Toledo. (Press photo by Scott Grau)

“That’s a lot when you are dealing with games and movies,” Riddle said. “The guys stole my whole store — every movie, every game, every game console, everything. They wiped me out clean. That break-in hurt me. It crippled me. I’m just hanging in there. If I can let people know we are back open, I can keep the business flowing in and people still have jobs.”

Even worse — Riddle believes he knows the names of who did it, and he says so do the police. Riddle says the thieves live just down the street.

“We found some of the empty cases and stuff at their place — out back. When we opened up the trash with the people standing right there, there were more empty game consoles and game cases,” Riddle said.

“As far as I know, I don’t think they arrested them, but they know that it was them. The detectives already know who did it, they just have to get more proof. They are just trying to get enough evidence. One of them is 17-years-old.”

Flint Hills just reopened about two weeks ago, but much of his former clientele seems unaware of it yet.

“It had just opened when it happened, and we hadn’t been open long and we got shut down again. We’ve been closed more than we’ve been open due to the theft. The insurance company settled up and we were able to get stuff restocked and get back into the store and all that back open. Shoot, everybody still thinks we’re closed,” Riddle said.

“When I’m down the street at the gas station, people are saying, ‘When are you going to open back up again?’ We are back open,” Riddle quipped, putting stress on the word “are.”

“We sell PlayStation 3 games, X-Box 360 games, movies, gaming accessories like power cords, game consoles and things of that nature,” Riddle continued.

Riddle, originally from Carolina, has lived in Toledo for about three years. He has noticed a spurt in crime in his East Toledo neighborhood since he’s been here.

“Heck yes, crime is getting worse. We had a break-in by my house down on Starr, I wound up putting up video surveillance in my neighbourhood,” Riddle said.

He’s making sure his surveillance system at his business is prepared for another attempt on his store, too.

“I have cameras up everywhere, including the alley. The camera system I have up now, I could watch you from my cell phone. This thing won’t happen again, I can tell you that,” Riddle said.

Riddle also operates a graphic company that specializes in the installation of decals. Flint Hills installs full wraps on vehicles, bus wraps, wall murals, storefronts, and so forth. The business also removes old decals on trailers, vehicle wraps, and company vans, etc. That is his main source of income.

“I pretty much have my clientele set up on that. I work out of state a lot, like I go out to the airports,” Riddle said.

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