Intoxicated man uses trash can to smash door and break into Gates Tops overnight

GATES, N.Y. – There were some scary moments for several overnight employees at the Tops Supermarket in Gates. Police were called, and a man was arrested for breaking into the business.

News10NBC has the actual recording of that police call. It happened around 2 a.m. Monday morning at the Tops Buffalo Road location. Police tell News10NBC, 21-year old Cory Kearns was detained briefly after police arrived.

“Hit the front doors. Hitting the doors with a cell phone. Black cap, torn shirt. He’s got white socks,” an audio description of what was happening over the Broadcastify Channel. 

Overnight employees busy working, and stocking the shelves after the store closed for the night, were startled when a man started banging on the front doors. 

“They called 911 cause they were feared that this guy was going to get into the building,” said Gates Police Chief Rob Long.

Broadcastify: “The doors are now locked. The male is trying to elbow the window to break it.”

“Subsequently he smashed one of the doors with a trash can, and was able to gain entry into the building,” said Long.

He also told us the employees were able to get out through an emergency exit in the back of the market.

Broadcastify: “Saying that the male is inside the store, and they’re in the store, (Gates Police Officer: “13 out back”), and they’re in the store.”

Officers on scene confronted Kearns, a resident of Gates. Police say the 21-year old has been in trouble with the law in the past.

“It appears that he was intoxicated on something, and that’s something that the officers were investigating at the time,” said Long.

Police charged Kearns with criminal mischief, and criminal trespassing. He was given an appearance ticket for both misdemeanors. We asked Long if local businesses will see extra patrols during overnight hours.

“We continually drive through those businesses already. It’s one of those things we prided ourselves on for years. We know pretty much all the ones that are open late night, or past 1 o’clock, 2 o’clock in the morning, and even when I was on patrol on midnights for a while, that’s what we did. We drove through to make sure everybody was okay,” said Long.

News10NBC reached out to Tops Corporate, and asked about employee safety protocols. Their spokesperson, Kathy Sautter, sent us this statement saying in part, “We are cooperating with authorities with their ongoing investigation.”

The company does call this an isolated incident.