Someone damaged an air condensing unit at one of the Kiwanis Thrift stores by stealing parts from it, forcing the organization to replace the unit.
On Monday, the Cape Coral police responded to a burglary and grand theft at 652 Del Prado Blvd., N. Donald Armstrong, the store manager, told police that someone removed the condensing coils from one of the building’s four units.
The theft occurred sometime between Saturday evening and Monday morning.
“There’s four back there and they took one,” Armstrong said Wednesday. “It was the biggest one we had.”
It will cost an estimated $6,000 to repair the system.
“They’ll just have to replace it with a new one,” he said. “They’re taking care of that now.”
The repair is expected to take a couple days.
According to Armstrong, he learned about the unit Monday after receiving a phone call from the police department. He was told that the units at a nearby store had been burglarized and officers asked him to check the thrift store.
“So I went out and checked and one was missing,” he said.
Armstrong noted that the store has been and is open for business.
“It’s making an impact here on the people working here because it’s a little warm, but we’re staying open,” he said. “We’re going OK.”
This is not the first criminal act that the store has had to endure. At the Del Prado location for about four years, the store has been burglarized twice. In the last year or so, someone broke a window then a door to gain entry inside.
“They busted in and got to our safe,” Armstrong said, adding that the two incidents happened within a month of each other.
Anyone with information can contact the Cape Coral Police Department at 574-3223, or submit a tip by texting “CCPD” plus the message to CRIMES or by visiting: www.capecops.com. Tipsters can also contact Southwest Florida Crime Stoppers at (800) 780-TIPS (8477) and be eligible for a cash reward.