Help ID brazen business burglar who stole tactical equipment, training rifle

WANTED IN DES MOINES --
This burglary suspect truly defines what it means to be brazen: Unapologetically shameless -- and what he stole when he broke into a store that sells equipment for first responders should concern all of us, because it includes pepper spray, knives, a ballistics vest, handcuffs and a training rifle.

Take a look at the surveillance video from Galls uniform store in Des Moines, where the crook sort of lumbers along, swinging his arms. Detectives think his walk is distinct enough that you may know who this is, so combine that walk with the looks at him as he comes toward the camera. He's wearing a hat and sunglasses, but you can see that he has a stocky build and a chubby face. The clothes he's wearing were actually stolen hours earlier when he broke into the store the first time. Detectives are hoping you can identify him from the video of both burglaries that were caught on camera.



“On March 17th in the early morning hours we had a commercial burglary at Galls uniform store located at 21600 block of Pacific Hwy S. A lone, white male is seen coming up to the front door with a pry bar in his hand and he works the pry bar across the door a number of times and he successfully was able to overcome the locking mechanism,” said Des Moines Police Sgt. Dave Mohr. “He enters the store, takes that same pry bar, goes to a display case, shatters the glass and begins to take out numerous items of police public safety-type equipment. There were handcuffs taken, knives, tactical flashlights, a ballistic vest, a tactical M4 training rifle, which is blue in color, all of which don't belong out in the general public. We'd like to recover those items and get them back to the store where they were taken from. He utilized duty bags and backpacks that are sold by the store to load stolen merchandise into, including jackets to pants to other duty items, making multiple trips throughout the store and then loading them into a general area and then moving them outside of the store. The offender returned at about 7 o’clock that same morning, re-entered the store, wearing a different set of clothing. His walk is very similar, his mannerisms are very similar and he repeats the process. It's interesting when he comes back the second time that he actually takes a pair of boots from the store, leaving his shoes behind. It appears to us that he's wearing a pair of pants taken from the first burglary when he returns for the second burglary. The ballistic vest, in particular, is used to protect officers who are out working on the street or involved in operations. We do not want to have that ballistic vest end up in a scenario where it is utilized in another crime, where it is protecting an offender from the police."

If you recognize him, have seen a guy like this sporting tactical gear or trying to sell it, or have any information at all that can help Des Moines Police identify the suspect, use the P3 Tips App on your smart phone to send it to Crime Stoppers anonymously, or call the hot line at 1-800-222-TIPS(8477).