ALTAMONTE SPRINGS, Fla. — Seminole County deputies are searching for three people who broke into Al's Army Navy store Wednesday morning in Altamonte Springs.
The manager of Al’s Army Navy Store in Altamonte Springs was startled awake Wednesday when he got a call from his security company at 1:30 a.m. saying there had been a break-in at his store.
"A couple minutes later I got a call from the Seminole County dispatch asking me to respond," Sam Porter said. "It was a confirmed break-in and I responded and this is what we found."
What he and deputies found was a 6-foot window smashed in and shards of glass covering the floor.
Porter believes the burglars were after firearms, but fortunately, he said they did not get away with anything of real significance, because all of the store’s guns were securely locked away.
“So, they started spreading out throughout the store and they looked over to this wall over here and saw that there was a rifle there, and that is an airsoft rifle, a toy gun, and grabbed that,” he said. “I think they thought they were getting off with a firearm, but to their surprise, they are going to find out that is a toy gun.”
Nothing else was taken from the store, Porter said.
“Firearms are worth money on the street and they're trying to get to them. So we have a responsibility to secure (firearms) so they can't get to them, and we do," Porter said.
Surveillance video captured the incident and shows three individuals in a white Toyota Camry throw something through the window, go inside, come back with the airsoft rifle and drive away.
Watch surveillance video below:
Repairing the window will cost about $1,000, Porter said.
This isn't the first time the manager has dealt with a break-in. Last week, his store in Sanford was hit, but like Wednesday's incident, the burglars couldn't get to the guns.
"They tried to hit a lock with a stone and weren't able to get any firearms," Porter said. "They were in and out of there in 30 seconds, and police were there within 30 seconds of them leaving, and they almost got caught.
See photos from the scene below: