COLUMBUS – Just in time for Independence Day, authorities in central Ohio are trying to track down whoever stole $40,000 worth of commercial fireworks.
US 23 Major Crimes Task Force tip line: 740-775-1208
State and local investigators believe the suspects arrived Phantom Fireworks in Bloomingburg in multiple vehicles around 1:30 a.m. Friday, June 24, cut through a fence to gain access to the property and then cut through a semi-trailer where the fireworks were stored, State Fire Marshal Larry Flowers said.
Flowers says additional incidents have been reported at the Chillicothe Fireworks store in Chillicothe and in Pennsylvania and Florida.
A reward of up to $5,000 is being offered by Phantom Fireworks for information leading to the identification of the persons responsible for the theft, Flowers said.
Anyone with information is asked to call the State Fire Marshal’s Fire and Explosion Investigation Bureau at 1-800-589-2728 or the Fayette County Sheriff’s Office at 740-335-6170.