Palm Springs Police Department searching for thief who stole landscaping tools
A man was caught on video stealing thousands of dollars worth of landscaping tools from a truck and trailer late last week. It happened on Thursday, May 16th around 7:54 a.m. according to the PSPD.
The burglary took place along the 200 block of Camino Sur. The items stolen included a FS 91 R Edge Trimmer loop handle, Stihl weed eater, Stihl HL94 24 Hedge trimmer, and an Exmark commercial lawn mower, gear estimated by the PSPD to be worth more than $3,000.
In the video, the suspect can be seen wearing tan cargo pants, a grey long-sleeve shirt, an orange face shield, a black hat, and black shoes. The man also used bolt cutters to break into the vehicles.
"It happens to people in all over the Coachella Valley, who are working, doing landscaping jobs," said PSPD Detective Alexander Doherty. "What happens is they show up to their truck and their tools that they use to make money for their families and for their livelihoods are just gone."
Doherty says it's a crime the PSPD is taking very seriously. The detective also promised he is doing everything he can to bring the tools back to the owner, because a loss like this could be devastating to a small business owner or worker.
"Our job is to investigate these crimes seriously," said Doherty. "I know some people would say 'oh, they're not going to take this seriously,' but we take every crime seriously down from you know, toilet paper being stolen from an Amazon package, to real high value items. We're dedicated to making sure all these crimes get investigated and no crimes are too small."
The detective also says these crimes tend to happen around this time of year.
“These crimes go in waves," said Doherty. "And it's what we found is it's a small group of people doing it. The more they get away with it, the more they are free to go and steal things like pool pumps, lawn equipment packages. The more emboldened they become and more frequent they become.”
There are some things Doherty advises to protect yourself from becoming a target.
"The landscaper who was stolen from was diligent in keeping his property secured," said Doherty. "Unfortunately, those things can be defeated. So it's important to be making sure you have a record of all your serial numbers for any property that you have. Also, if you're at your house and you have your work truck parked in front of your house, keep an eye on it, or park it in a garage. And really make sure all those high value items are secured."
Anyone with any information is asked to contact Detective Alex Doherty at (760) 323-8142.
