Police investigate smoke shop burglary

A man used a bar stool to smash out the store window of Hookah Heaven in Myrtle Beach then took about $1,000 worth of merchandise before leaving through the store’s front door.

Myrtle Beach police were called about 4 a.m. Tuesday to the smoke shop at 510 N. Kings Hwy. for an alarm activation, according to a police report.

Officers saw a shattered window when they arrived at the store and called for backup. Police discovered the business’ front door was unlocked and found no one inside when they did a protective sweep of the store, authorities said.

A store employee arrived to the smoke shop and provided police with a copy of store surveillance footage.

At about 3:48 a.m. a man looks through the store window, finds a bar stool outside the business and shatters the window then uses the stool as he steps up to crawl through the store window, police said after viewing the security footage.

The footage shows the suspect walking through the store and taking a small smoking glass pipe, valued at $400, and a large “Grave Labs” smoking glass pipe, valued at $600, police said.

The suspect then unlocks the front door of the business and leaves.

This story was originally published April 14, 2016 at 8:41 AM with the headline "Police investigate smoke shop burglary."