Despite being a dark and foggy night, the traditional Super Bowl Sunday chili cook-off fund-raiser Feb. 6 at the North Oakland Elks Club in Addison was a success ? and somebody knew it.
Following the fund-raiser, thieves broke into the Elks Club on Pond Road sometime between midnight and 3 a.m.
Cash was the only thing the robbers were looking for, but luckily they didn’t get all of the money raised by the Elks earlier that evening.
Oakland County Sheriff Deputy Bruce Pearson, a long time Elks member, said an undetermined amount of money was stolen, but the bulk of the cook-off profit was stored elsewhere.
The fund-raiser was a collaborative effort of both Elks Lodge #2716 and the Lions Club to help benefit charities such as crippled children, Leader Dogs for the Blind, and eyecare programs for needy families.
Judging by the amount of damage done to the building, Pearson said the suspects worked hard to gain access, but knew where to go once inside.
‘They tore through the roof to drop into the office,? said Pearson, adding they also cut telephone lines, security lines, and tore out the the alarm security panel.
Once access was gained to the office, Pearson said the suspects spent the night trying to bash, bang, and chisel into the free-standing safe.
‘After they got into it, they took all the proceeds from the safe,? said Pearson, who estimated the thieves caused more than $3,000 in damage to the building. ‘But luckily not all of the money was in the safe there, so we didn’t lose everything.?
However, Elks Club members did lose was a sense of security.
Except for a few unfamiliar faces in the crowd, the chili cook-off drew more than 100 people, who Pearson said were mostly friends, family, kids, and relatives of both Elks and Lions members.
‘We knew just about everybody there,? said Pearson, adding the evidence indicates the robbery may have been committed by someone familiar with the area.
‘Our worry is we do a lot (of events) out there and everybody is worried about safety now,? Pearson said. ‘This wasn’t a random break-in. They were professionals.?
Police believe the break-in suspects were familiar with the area because tracks leading away from the scene led investigators across two separate lakes to tire tracks from a vehicle on the other side of the lakes.
Pearson said one of the lakes is spring fed with several areas of thin ice.
Pearson said whoever belongs to the tracks were either lucky not to fall through or knew the lakes well enough to avoid thin ice on a dark and foggy night.
‘We’re beating down the bushes and have some leads,? Pearson said.
The Elks Club is offering a $250 reward for any information leading to the arrest and conviction of the thieves. Anyone with information about the robbery should call the Oakland County Sheriff’s Addison Substation at (248) 628-3600.