Video captures suspects taking thousands of dollars in tools in less than 4 minutes

ST. GEORGE — A burglary at a water treatment and utility supply company off South River Road Wednesday evening was captured on video. The crime took less than four minutes and cost the business owner thousands of dollars.

Surveillance footage captures one of the three suspects entering Ferguson’s Water Works on Commerce Drive during burglary in St. George, Utah, Feb. 17, 2021 | Photo courtesy of David Kent, St. George News

The incident took place at Ferguson Waterworks on East Commerce Drive at 7:45 p.m., where surveillance footage from inside of the building showed an SUV back up to the facility and stop just feet from the front entrance doors.

Three people jumped out of the vehicle, and the video showed one of the men breaking through the glass door using a sledgehammer. The three suspects donning hoodies with their faces concealed behind masks entered the building by climbing through the shattered glass door.

A video clip captured by surveillance footage courtesy of David Kent can be viewed at the top of this report. 

Once inside, the trio went to a large display of other high-end power tools and nearly cleared the entire display out, loading the items into the SUV.

Waterworks employee David Kent told St. George News that less than four minutes after entering the store, the suspects were back in the SUV, which was loaded with more than $9,000 in merchandise.

He went on to say that once the door was shattered, the security system was activated and he received a call notifying him of the incident, at which point he called police to report it. He also said the vehicle may have been a Honda Pilot from what he could see on the surveillance footage.

Interestingly, Kent said, while the large display of high-end tools could be seen through the window, the cable and lock mechanism that secured the tools to the display was not visible. However, he said, when the suspects entered the store, they already had a cable cutter in hand and were able to sever the cable quickly and remove the tools, leading him to believe they somehow knew there was a cable securing the items to the display table.

Surveillance footage captures an SUV backed up to entrance doors of water treatment supply company on Commerce Drive during burglary, St. George, Utah, Feb. 17, 2021 | Photo courtesy of David Kent, St. George News

“These guys were ready and had everything they needed,” Kent said. “They were in and out within just a few minutes, so it wasn’t a random break-in; it was planned.”

St. George Police Officer Tiffany Atkin said officers were dispatched to the store just before 8:15 p.m., and detectives were called out to process the scene and recover evidence, including the surveillance footage, as part of an investigation that Atkin said is still ongoing.

Kent said that what is more troubling in many ways than the monetary loss is the fact that anyone would just back into a business and break in without any regard for the destruction and losses that are left behind for others.

“To think they would brazenly bust open the door with a sledgehammer and just come in and take whatever they want,” he said, “and leave the mess for someone else – it’s more of a violation than anything else.”

Atkin said while random crimes such as this incident are difficult, if not impossible, to prevent, having a good security and surveillance system that produces high resolution images and video not only serve as an effective deterrent but can also help increase the chances of recovering the stolen goods, which in turn reduces the overall losses suffered by the business owner. 

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Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2021, all rights reserved.

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