TOWER— An early morning burglar made off with a safe from the Zup’s Grocery store on Monday, escaping with an undisclosed amount of money.

A morning delivery man reported the apparent break-in shortly before 4 a.m. on Monday, Sept. 17, after he noticed the rear delivery door had apparently been forced open. Store staff were alerted just before 4 a.m., and they discovered that the door to the store’s main office had also been broken and the store’s safe was missing.

The Breitung Police Department arrived on scene at 4 a.m.

The theft was caught on tape, which showed a single individual entering and then leaving the store. Store staff said the suspect used one of the store’s carryout carts to transport the heavy safe out the back door.

According to the Breitung Police Department, the suspect is a white male, 40-50 years old, about 5’8” tall, and between 200–220 pounds with a stocky build. The burglary took place at approximately 2:52 a.m. Surveillance video of the burglary is online (see the Tower Mn facebook page). Preliminary examination of the video appears to show a man with a white or blond goatee and tattoos on his arms. He was wearing a red baseball cap. Within 12 hours of putting the videos on facebook, they had been shared over 500 times.

The department is working with the Lake Superior Drug and Violent Crime Task Force, St. Louis County Sheriff’s Department, and other local police departments on the investigation. Anyone with information regarding the burglary, is asked to contact the Breitung Police at 218-753-6660 or call 911.