A series of burglaries at Brookhaven businesses during the pastweek has left authorities searching for clues and finding few.

Five burglaries in a week appear to be related with the samemode of operation used in each, said Nolan Jones, assistant chiefof the Brookhaven Police Department.

The first reported break-in came when an alarm sounded at 4:16a.m., April 29, at Smith’s Jewelry, located on West CherokeeStreet, according to Jones.

“The front door glass was broken out, but no entry was made,” hesaid.

Just minutes after officers arrived on the scene, the policedepartment received a second alarm call around 4:27 a.m. at D-BestFashions on North First Street, Jones stated.

“A large rock had been used to break the window and anundetermined amount of merchandise was missing out of thebuilding,” said Jones.

The next similar burglary came on May 3 when the owner ofFashions by Margaret at 503 West Congress Street reported finding astore window broken when she came to open up around 10 a.m., saidJones.

A large rock had been used to break the window and anundetermined amount of clothing was taken from the shop.

The latest reported burglaries happened Monday morning atHollywood Beauty Supply on North Jackson Street and McKenzie Martat 217 Highway 51 North.

Jones said officers found those burglaries also consisted oflarge rocks being used to break windows to gain entry.

At Hollywood Beauty Supply, clothing was stolen, but authoritiesbelieve they may have surprised the thief or thieves.

“We believe most of the merchandise was recovered. We found alot of clothing out in the parking lot,” said Jones about the 5a.m. burglary.

The suspect or suspects did not appear to let that hinder theirefforts to steal from store owners, Jones said, mentioning that analarm company reported an alarm going off at 5:34 a.m. at McKenzieMart.

When police arrived, they discovered a big rock was used tobreak a window there. The store owner was unable to determine ifany merchandise was missing, said Jones.

Police are asking for help from the community in solving theseburglaries. Anyone with information about the crimes may call CrimeStoppers anonymously at 823-0150 or call the Brookhaven PoliceDepartment at 833-2424.