Police: Man steals mini-snow plow, crashes into Target

BAY SHORE, N.Y. – A Long Island man has been arrested after a Christmas morning crime spree that gave new meaning to the term doorbuster.

It happened shortly before 2 a.m., Suffolk County police said, when Justin Shuffle stole a 2010 Bobcat skid loader, which is used to push snow, from a Bay Shore shopping centre. He then crashed the mini-snow plow through the front doors of a nearby Target.

Once inside, authorities said, Shuffle swiped a coat and several gift cards before police caught him in the electronics section of the big-box retailer.

No one was injured, but the front doors of the store “suffered extensive damages,” police said in a news release.

Shuffle, 33, of Deer Park, pleaded not guilty Friday to third-degree burglary and fourth-degree larceny. It was not immediately clear whether he had a defence attorney.