Watch this thief hit a Hilton Head surf shop on Easter morning

The owner of a Hilton Head Island surf shop is asking the public’s help in identifying a man caught on video allegedly stealing around $2,500 in cash early Easter morning.

Steve Maleh, owner of Surfs Up on North Forest Beach Drive, said his store was burglarized around 4 a.m., and the thief appeared to be very familiar with the store.

“Someone came through the back of the store,” Maleh said on Tuesday. “There are windows all around the building, but there are only three accessible windows in a small office in the back of the store.”

The thief broke one of those windows, cut himself on the glass and went inside to take the money from the store’s main register.

The man knew which combination of buttons to press on the register to open it, Maleh said.

He then moved to a second register near where the store sells ice cream.

“He pressed the wrong button and couldn’t open that after two or three times and walked away,” Maleh said.

All this was caught on motion-activated surveillance cameras in the store.

“The picture is obviously not a former employee,” Maleh said. “It was probably someone who knew the store layout or was friends with a former employee.”

A Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office deputy responded to the scene around 2 a.m. when a person nearby reported hearing glass break.

Maleh said a small hole had been punched in the window at that time, and the deputy left around 3 a.m.. The thief apparently to returned an hour later, broke out the rest of the window and entered the store.

The Sheriff’s Office collected DNA evidence left behind by the thief, including blood found near the broken window, Maleh said.

The case remains under investigation. Anyone with information about the theft may call the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office or Crime Stoppers at 1-888-Crime-SC.

This story was originally published May 2, 2017 at 9:55 AM with the headline "Watch this thief hit a Hilton Head surf shop on Easter morning."