DETROIT (WXYZ) — Workers at family-owned plumbing company Shelby Mechanical say thieves have targeted their work trucks three times in just two months, with the latest theft caught on security cameras.
Watch Christiana Ford's video report:
The surveillance footage shows a thief quickly approaching a work van parked on Detroit's east side on Mack Ave Wednesday around 4 p.m., backing up to obscure their license plate from view before making off with expensive power tools.
"Gone in the blink of an eye," said Chris Becker, a worker with Shelby Mechanical.
Becker was finishing up work inside when thieves stole a large bin of tools from his van.
“I opened it, see the missing pack out, which had a bunch of power tools in it, and I knew it was downhill from there,” said Becker.
The thief then moved to his coworker's van, parked nearby, spending mere minutes stealing saws, drills and batteries while the worker was still inside the vehicle.
Watch the surveillance video below:
"For three minutes straight, he was in the vehicle prior. Opens up the back door," Becker said.
The stolen tools were expensive, with one item alone worth thousands.
The company has been hit three times in two months, once on Jefferson and twice while working on Mack Avenue on Detroit's east side. The company says the thefts have cost them almost $30,000.
"It's violating and we really need to get a stop to it," said Ryan Mitter, commercial field manager at Shelby Mechanical.
The repeated thefts have made parking work trucks feel like a risky gamble for the mechanical contractors. Mitter believes thieves are specifically targeting contractor vehicles.
"I feel like they know the tools that are on the trucks and they're looking for specific items that sell at higher value, so yeah, I believe they're targeting plumbing trucks, electrical trucks, HVAC vehicles," Mitter said.
Suppliers he's talked also say others have been impacted in metro Detroit.
Detroit police say they're still working on leads and are unable to connect the thefts or identify a trend at this time.
The crews are now looking at additional security measures to protect their equipment.
"We're actually looking at doing something else on the interior of the truck as far as locking up the tools with chain rope, lock boxes inside," Mitter said.
Mitter hopes sharing their experience can help warn other contractors in the area.
"I just want to make sure that everyone is getting out to their employees to keep your trucks locked, they just keep everyone safe. Be on the lookout for vehicles you don't know in the areas you're working in," Mitter said.
Police are asking anyone with information to contact them.
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