Academy Sports Burglary Press Release

On Wednesday August 31, 2022 at approximately 4:22 AM the O’Fallon Police Department received a notification of a burglar alarm sounding at Academy Sports, located at 1574 W. Hwy 50 O’Fallon, IL.  Responding officers arrived within minutes and confirmed the business had been broken into.

A preliminary investigation revealed that a stolen Kia Sportage was driven through the front door of Academy Sports a few minutes prior to the police department receiving notification of the alarm.  Video evidence from inside the store, shows that multiple subjects occupied the stolen Kia and after crashing through the front doors, several subjects proceeded to the gun department inside the store.  The subjects attempted to gain entry into the gun cases, using a blunt force instrument, but were unsuccessful.  The subjects were last seen fleeing the store on foot.

Responding officers conducted a through search of the surrounding area but were unable to locate the subjects.  During the search, an additional Kia Optima was discovered to have been stolen from the 100 block of Dean Dr., which was only approximately two blocks away from Academy Sports.  It appears that the burglary at Academy Sports and the stolen Optima are related.  As of this time, the stolen Kia Optima, which is red over gray 2012 model bearing Illinois registration Q598918, is still missing. 

Officers are still working to obtain additional video surveillance footage of the incident, which may help to identify the subjects.  We are working with other agencies as we are aware that an additional Academy Sports was burglarized in St. Peter’s in a similar fashion.

As additional information becomes available, the press release will be updated.  We ask that anyone who has information relating to this crime to contact Det. Nick Schimdt of the O’Fallon Police Department, at 618-624-4545.