SAN ANTONIO – A landscaping company thinks it has video of the thieves who stole $30,000 worth of equipment.
AAA Landscape said thieves cut the phone lines, which is what the alarm works on, and busted open a door to their storage area Tuesday night. They made off with about power tools ranging from weed eaters and backpack blowers to lawn mowers.
It is just the latest theft in the Northeast Side business plaza, with other businesses reporting thefts as well.
"It's what gets me and my husband to be able to feed our kids, and they are taking that from us," office manager Wendy Green said.
Green said a Chevy pickup truck is the only vehicle caught on the company's motion-activated camera Tuesday night.
In the video, the vehicle drives slowly around the back side of the building near their storage room. As the truck turns toward the building, the passenger points directly at the camera and then at the building before the driver pulls out of frame.
AAA Landscape caught another theft on camera in February when someone stole a tailgate off of their trucks.
"If someone is constantly coming and stealing from your house, you're going to do something about it," Green said. "Your business is no different."
They aren't the only ones worried. An SAPD report shows neighboring business, Kaysa Enterprises, had a check stolen, forged and cashed out of the mail in April 2015. The U.S. Postal Inspection Service said the box was broken into in April and May.
Property manager Nick Campbell said it also looked like someone had tried unsuccessfully to break into the mailbox recently.
Across the parking lot, Modern Day Concrete has had two vehicles stolen in recent months. First a box truck was stolen back in November. President Felipe Carstens said it was later found, though the tools in the back were missing. Then this weekend, someone stole one of the business's Ford F-250 pickup trucks.
"It's hard enough just running the business as it is, and then on top of that having to deal with this every couple months," Carstens said.
It's on his mind when he's working late.
"You're here until 10, 11 o'clock at night working and you know what's going on around here, and you really don't feel safe at all," he said.
Campbell said he's trying to find ways to make the property more secure and will talk with police about what would work best.