Robber uses rock to smash store windows

GASTONIA, N.C. -- A rock-toting bandit has apparently struck again, smashing and grabbing from businesses.

Police say he uses a rock to break windows and make his way inside. His latest target was a Movie Gallery on West Franklin Boulevard in Gastonia.

"He had just broke through the glass window with a rock and he didn't take anything,” said Christie Dino, store manager of Movie Gallery.

It happened around 3:30 a.m. Wednesday. Dino says there was no money in the store.

"He opened everything up I guess, and figured out he wasn't going to get any cash so he left,” said Dino.

Police have identified the alleged serial burglar as 39-year-old Paul Christopher Beaty.

Paul Christopher Beaty

He has a long rap sheet and so far he has been linked to more than two-dozen burglaries in the past couple of weeks, including many in south Charlotte.

Beaty has been caught on camera several times. At times he’s seen taking the rock he allegedly uses to break windows with him when he leaves, but this time Dino says he didn’t.

"He had the rock in the car probably and now he'd have to carry it, so I'm thinking that might be why he left it," Dino said.

That’s because officers impounded Beaty’s car, so now they believe he’s been getting away on foot.

Investigators say they’ve linked him to more than two-dozen burglaries including one at The Tanning Beach next door to the Movie Gallery.

It’s “just crazy that he hadn’t got caught yet.  He’s just brave,” said Haven Adams who works at The Tanning Beach.

Officers believe Beaty was at the tanning salon just two days before he was at the movie rental store.

"He was trying to break through the drywall and get to the liquor store from their building," said Dino.

Adams said, "He went all the way through to the insulation."

Police believe Beaty is trying to feed a drug habit and so does the latest victim of his alleged crime spree.

"I think he's definitely on drugs and desperate, desperate for money,” said Dino.

There are numerous warrants out for Beaty’s arrest. 

Meanwhile, businesses like the Movie Gallery have been left with hundreds of dollars in repairs.