Thieves smash through yoga school wall to rob smoke shop, police say


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SALT LAKE CITY — Police arrested two men early Tuesday morning for investigation of burglary after a lucky break during a routine traffic stop.

An officer noticed several packs of cigarettes in a car he pulled over near 1900 South and 1000 East, not far from a Sugar House smoke shop that detectives later learned had been burglarized, Salt Lake City police detective Richard Chipping said.

“Both driver and the passenger were acting suspicious,” Chipping said. “There was a large amount of cigarette packages, cigarette boxes, in the vehicle.”

The officer learned the driver, William Calhoun, 23, had a warrant out for his arrest. Police searched the car and found unusual tools. That raised suspicion even more.

Chipping said Calhoun and his suspect partner Dylan Hurwitz, 20, confessed to the burglary.

“(The officers) eventually found out that the subjects had broken into a shop adjacent to the smoke shop,” Chipping said.

Investigators believe the men used the yoga school to gain access to the smoke shop, which sits next door at 815 East and 2100 South. The smoke shop has security on all its exits, except one.

“There’s a tunnel,” said Ma Shakti Devi, director of the Integrated School of Yoga. “A tunnel connecting this lot and theirs.”

Chipping said the men took cash from the register along with cartons of cigarettes. They then drove away, but were soon stopped for the traffic violation.

Later Tuesday morning, a boarded-up window marked the spot the men allegedly broke into the yoga school. Devi said typically she doesn’t worry about theft or violence in the area.

“We actually have such a peaceful energy going that I believe is a form of protection,” Devi said. “On top of that we don’t have anything valuable, unless they want a Hindu statue.”

Calhoun was booked into the Salt Lake County Jail on the arrest warrant and could now be facing charges of theft, burglary and criminal mischief.

Hurwitz was also booked into jail for investigation of theft, burglary and criminal mischief.

Contributing: Shara Park

Email: bbodily@ksl.com

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