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Thieves steal truck from west-side business plagued by crime

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — The owner of a west-side plumbing company said someone stole one of his company trucks Saturday night and the theft is caught on camera.

Kris Griffith, who owns Ferrer Mechanical Services, said this is the fifth time in two years someone stole from his business.

“I felt complete anger,” Griffith said.

The video shows two people pull into the lot around 8:19 p.m. Saturday. One man hops out, walks to the locked company truck and crawls into the bed. Three minutes later, he drives away in the red Ford utility truck and the Pontiac follows.

Griffith said the thief must have shattered the back window and hot-wired the truck.

“We’re looking to get out of our lease now and move out of this area,” Griffith said. “I’m really sick and tired of dealing with this.”

Last September, a thief stole 10 tanks of flammable gas from the plumbing and piping company. Police said they arrested someone for that theft within days.

Three months later, someone busted a Ferrer truck window then broke into a neighboring business’s van and stole thousands of dollars’ worth of tools.

“It just leads me to worry about somebody taking the next step and just walking into our building and robbing our team members inside,” Griffith said.

When the work day is over, Griffith said, his staff keeps their gear inside the building. They make sure the cameras are working and the trucks are locked.

“I don’t know what else to do,” he said. “As many times as they keep stealing, I want to see them prosecuted.”

Griffith reported the theft to Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department and showed detectives his security video.

He said he does not know why criminals keep coming back to his business. Griffith said he emailed the landlord Tuesday morning to ask if fencing can be installed to help keep out thieves.

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