A juvenile is in custody after police said he stole thousands of dollars' worth of items from a Wheeling store, then was found hiding in the business' closet.

The incident happened around 4 a.m. Monday at DL's Hair & Clothing in downtown. Police said a teen entered and left the store multiple times, taking bags full of clothing, shoes and jewelry with him each time.

Police sent a K-9 officer into the store, which found the suspect hiding in a closet. Investigators said because the suspect spent a good amount of time in the store, the K-9 was able to pick up his scent.

As of noon Tuesday, police had not found the bags the teen allegedly took outside during those multiple trips, and they believe he had an accomplice. The value of the stolen merchandise was about $2,000.

The store's manager said it will be hard to make up that loss.

"Hopefully it doesn't happen again, and hopefully people don't have the initiative to come and just rob from you," said Janette Rideoutt. "We are a small business and we don't make a lot of money being here, you know, downtown Wheeling. There's hardly anything here already and it's just really hard, you know?"

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