COBB COUNTY, Ga. — A family-owned construction business in Cobb County says over $100,000 worth of equipment was stolen from its premises. The owner later tracked the equipment down nearly 150 miles away.
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Security cameras captured a suspect breaking into AEM Construction and Restoration by cutting the lock off a fence early Sunday morning. The stolen equipment includes a skidsteer and a trailer, both essential for the company’s operations.
“We’re really concerned,” said Jennell Martinez, the owner of AEM Construction. “A skidsteer and the trailer that we drive around with, we basically use that for our hardscape.”
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Martinez described how the security cameras recorded the suspect getting out of a vehicle, assessing the area, and then using pliers to cut the lock. Despite the cameras’ warnings that the area was being recorded, the suspect proceeded with the theft.
Martinez says the equipment, worth over $120,000, is financed and that they are still obligated to make payments on it.
“We all have put in a lot of work to get to where we are at today,” she told Channel 2 Cobb County Bureau Chief Michele Newell.
Police are actively investigating the incident, but have not released a detailed description of the suspect due to the face covering seen in the footage.
Late Wednesday night, Martinez confirmed to Newell that she was able to track down the stolen equipment to a tow yard in Thomson, Georgia, nearly 150 miles away.
She had a GPS tracking device on the equipment and activated it to determine the location. She worked with police to safely secure it.
The suspect has not been caught.
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