TULSA - A midtown construction site near has been burglarized four times totaling thousands of dollars in equipment loss.
Jarco Construction subcontractor Aaron Crutchfield said he and his crew are moving bricks and scrap by hand, instead of using heavy machines like their bobcat.
"Since we don't have it [the bobcat], we have to carry all this stuff by hand," Crutchfield said.
The job site location is a house at the corner of E. 26th St. and S. Birmingham Pl. in midtown Tulsa. The house is getting a makeover by Jarco Construction.
"In about six weeks, we were hit four times here," Joe's Electric electrician Raymond Moore said.
Two wheelbarrows full were taken from multiple construction workers the first two times the site was burglarized. Moore said the cost of those tools exceeded $2,000.
"It cost me probably $400 in hand tools and I still haven't got all of them replaced yet," Moore said.
The biggest hit was Monday night. It was just after 5:30. Surveillance video showed a Chevy Tahoe with a trailer pull up in front of the house. It stopped at the stop sign and waited.
"A couple minutes later you see on our other camera, another guy gets out and you see him walk around our trailer," Crutchfield said. "He just walked right in and they had their own key. They hopped in, started it and took off."
Crutchfield says the key was locked in a lock box on site. But that didn't stop the man in the surveillance video. Crutchfield says the culprit had one of his own.
"They knew what they were doing," he said. "They do this type of work and they've been around this type of equipment a lot."
That bobcat costs between $10,000 and $15,000. It doesn't stop there.
"They took a flat head or a pry bar and got underneath the bottom and at the top and managed to pry past those locks on it," Crutchfield said.
All together, a major loss for the construction company.
"That's $20,000 out of his pocket pretty much for the last month," Moore said.
Maybe even more if they keep using their hands.
A police report has been filed. There is a $500 reward for anyone who can identify the man in the video. If you have information, you're asked to call the Tulsa Police Department.
Editor's Note: A previous version of this story included surveillance video of a man identified as a construction worker. That man is a resident near the job site and was on the property picking up trash. We have removed that video.
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