Florist hit by break-in Couple loses money for daughter’s wedding

When someone broke into the safe inside Nuttelman’s Florist sometime overnight, it wasn’t money for the business or to pay bills that was taken, said office manager Mary Nuttelman.
It was the money she and her husband, Walter “Chip” Nuttelman, who owns the business, had been saving for their daughter’s upcoming wedding, she said.
According to Mary Nuttelman and Northampton Police, sometime between 5 p.m. Tuesday and 7:45 a.m. Wednesday, someone got inside the Woodlawn Avenue business by shoving aside an air conditioner in one of the windows and forced open a safe inside.
Police said an undisclosed amount of cash was taken.
Mary Nuttelman said the money stolen was cash she and her husband had been saving for about four months in preparation for their daughter’s wedding, planned for Oct. 26.
“It’s a matter of a small businessman trying to do right for his daughter,” said Mary Nuttelman.
Nuttelman declined to give her daughter’s name.
Krystyne Saltis, a friend of the family, showed up Wednesday morning after she heard about the break-in to lend support.
“We figured coffee was a necessity this morning,” she said.
Saltis said she’s known the couple her entire life and is shocked that someone would make them a target.
“It’s so sad that people are so selfish like this,” she said.
When asked if she had any idea who might have broken in, Nuttelman said she didn’t have a clue.
She said the 37-year-old business has been the target of break-ins and robberies about three or four times over the last 10 years.
Some of those robberies were break-ins, and at least one of them occurred while the store was open and someone grabbed cash from behind the counter and ran off.
“Each time has been different,” Nuttelman said.
She said she isn’t sure why the shop occasionally gets broken into except that it’s a lone business in a quiet neighborhood.
Northampton Police with the assistance of a State Police canine unit were at the store investigating Wednesday morning.
Police said the crime scene was still fresh enough Wednesday morning that the search dog was called in to see if it could pick up a scent.
Wednesday morning, Northampton Police Detective Patrick Moody said, despite the past break-ins, it doesn’t appear that Nuttelman’s is a target of crimes significantly more often than other area businesses.

Meantime, there’s one detail the Nuttelmans’ daughter won’t have to worry about come her wedding day — the flowers. Her parents are arranging that.