Police are searching for the “who” responsible for burglarizing Christopher’s Fine Jewelry and the “why” behind the alarm company’s 40-minute delay in notifying police of the break-in.

Lt. Paul Dean said officers responded to the Covington Mall store at approximately 3:30 a.m. Thursday.

“When police arrived, they found that the front door of the business had been busted and someone had entered the business,” Dean said. “By using video evidence, we were able to determine that a lone male subject entered the business and committed the theft.”

Sources say that the man used a claw hammer to gain entry into the business, and then again on two cases of jewelry inside the store. Store staff are still doing an inventory to determine the value of the stolen items, Dean said.

“According to evidence available at this time, there was an approximate 40-minute delay between the suspect entering the business and police being notified by the alarm monitoring company,” he said. “Police are also searching for the answer to why there was such a delay in the notification procedure. ”

Anyone with information about the break-in is asked to call the Andalusia Police Department at 334.222.1155.

Dean also reminded residents that burglaries do increase during the holiday season.

“And we all know that it’s the time that we’re making purchases either for the home or as gifts,” he said. “We want to remind residents to please not put those empty boxes for flat-screen TVS, gaming consoles and the like – out by the road. It’s like an advertising sign for criminals.”