'We were expecting a break-in': Family of late Elkhorn Market owner reacts to store burglary

CARUTHERS, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) – Last month, the proprietor of Elkhorn Market died successful a clang with an almond truck. The aforesaid concern helium owned was burglarized connected April 23.

Elkhorn Market was closed successful March aft 80-year-old concern proprietor Harbans Singh Lehra died.

“This is simply a existent gut punch to this family,” Fresno County Sheriff’s Office Spokesperson Tony Botti said. “They conscionable mislaid the person of their family, the proprietor of the store, and idiosyncratic who became alert of that knew that determination was an accidental determination to get wrong the store erstwhile cipher would beryllium there.”

On April 23, officers were called for a robbery astatine the Elkhorn Market successful Caruthers, which was the aforesaid marketplace owned by 80-year-old Harbans Singh Lehra. He died successful March aft a clang with an almond motortruck conscionable extracurricular of his business.

“He was pulling retired of the driveway of the business, got deed by a semi-truck, mislaid his life. So since that time, the household has unopen down the marketplace and they conscionable precocious reopened,” Botti said.

The sheriff’s bureau shared a video of a bluish pickup motortruck driving distant extracurricular the market. According to the sheriff's office, tens of thousands of dollars of merchandise were stolen.

“It's an older exemplary pickup truck. Blue and colour has a quadrate assemblage style. Might person an extended cab on with immoderate chrome rims,” Botti said.

YourCentralValley.com spoke to Harbans’ grandson, who says the robbery could’ve been worse.

“We were expecting the break-in. It was lone a substance of time, my gramps had a batch of valuables and inventory. We took preemptive measures and removed everything of worth weeks earlier the break-in occurred,” Harban’s grandson, Sam Lehra, said.

“It's conscionable a really, truly bittersweet circumstance. And the champion happening we could bash is to springiness a fewer seconds to look astatine this truck. If we cognize who it is, telephone it into america truthful that we tin investigate,” Botti said.

While the sheriff’s bureau investigates, the Lehra household is present looking to determination on.

“The store is up for merchantability and volition not reopen nether existent ownership. It’s been owned and operated by my gramps since 2006, and we are taking offers connected it,” Lehra said.

The Lehra household says they don’t privation immoderate fiscal assistance from the community. They conscionable privation to stock their appreciation for the thoughtful messages they received aft the passing of Harbans.