A car came crashing through the front entrance of a Shoe Palace store near South Bascom Avenue and Stevens Creek Boulevard in San Jose early Tuesday, and the suspects inside didn’t stick around long once a deputy showed up. The break-in happened at about 3:30 a.m., and authorities are now searching for whoever was behind the wheel.
According to NBC Bay Area, the suspects crashed a car into the front entrance of the store before running inside. A Santa Clara County sheriff’s deputy happened to spot them and attempted to stop them, but the suspects managed to get away in a second car. That vehicle didn’t make it far — investigators later found it abandoned, according to the same report.
No Word Yet on Who Was Behind the Wheel
As of now, there’s no indication from the reporting of how many suspects were involved or who they might be. Police are asking anyone with information about the break-in to come forward, per the station’s report, though it remains unclear what, if anything, was taken from inside the store during the chaos.
The scene mirrors a similar car-into-storefront burglary that played out in Indianapolis the previous month. There, police said a car crashed into a south-side smoke shop near U.S. 31 and Southport Road around 3:35 a.m., according to FOX59. In that case, the suspect or suspects had already left the area by the time officers arrived, and video from the scene showed broken glass and a smashed-in front door. The Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department said that investigation remains ongoing.
Commercial Break-Ins Still Above Pre-Pandemic Levels
Smash-and-grab style burglaries like this one fit into a broader pattern across California. Commercial burglaries statewide fell 9% in 2023 but still sat roughly 6% above pre-pandemic levels, according to the Public Policy Institute of California. The institute also noted a wrinkle in the statewide figures: the San Jose Police Department was among the larger agencies that did not report crime numbers for part or all of 2023, meaning the full local picture isn’t captured in that statewide data.
For now, the San Jose case remains an open investigation. Anyone with information about the crash and break-in at the Bascom Avenue Shoe Palace is asked to call police.
