B & B Sports hit by vandals, thieves

The first sign that not all was well when B & B Sports owner Butch Hausladen arrived at his business Friday morning was the sight of a door wide open on a camper.

Hausladen discovered 20 camper units, including five, customer-owned ones stored there, had been entered sometime overnight and vandalized. B & B is just north of Hutchinson city limits at 20271 State Highway 15.

Through his video surveillance system, Hausladen was able to tell the McLeod County Sheriff’s Department that the damage and accompanying theft of items was apparently done by the work of two young males. The incident took place between 11 p.m. and midnight Thursday, Aug. 21.

Once inside the campers, the pair went through the vehicles, broke locks and stole several items worth more than $2,000, including televisions, an AM/FM/CD player, two surround-sound systems and even a couch equipped with an air mattress. Several knives and medicine were taken from cabinets in the privately owned units.

“I’m offering a $1,000 reward to the first person offering information that leads to an arrest and conviction,” Hausladen said Monday.

(Terry Davis is a Hutchinson Leader staff writer. E-mail him at davis@hutchinsonleader.com.)