PEACHTREE CORNERS, Ga. — A Peachtree Corner business owner is trying to defend himself against criminals while trying to recover from the blow they struck on his bottom line Thursday morning.
It’s a big blow to him, to his twelve employees and to the small landscaping supplies business that he started only two years ago.
Burglars broke into Isidro Juarez’s business -- I & J Landscaping Supplies in Peachtree Corners -- at about 3:30 a.m. Thursday.
They stole one of Juarez’s Bobcat loaders. And they were quick.
“Everything was done in less than 10 minutes,” said Juarez’s operations manager, Oliva Cardinal.
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The business’s security video shows what happened, and how fast --beginning with someone cutting through the chains and locks meant to secure the gate.
“They just come in and just take what they want,” Cardinal said, as she showed the video to 11Alive News.
The video shows the four burglars also stealing one of Juarez’s trailers so they could haul away his Bobcat, towing it all behind a heavy-duty utility truck.
“They stole from him today very close to $30,000 worth of equipment,” Cardinal said.
And she and Juarez said his property insurer told him the losses are not covered by his policy.
Cardinal and Juarez have been struggling against criminals to save the business ever since he opened it two years ago. That’s when he says burglars stole one of his 18-wheelers.
“He’s very frustrated,” Cardinal said, “because he says it’s taken him more than a year just to collect this kind of money to buy equipment. And they’ve just taken it away from him, just like that.”
So, they’ve increased security on the property. And Juarez has given Gwinnett County Police the vehicle identification numbers and the paperwork on his equipment.
He said he is sure someone will call police with tips so that he can bounce back from this costly Bobcat burglary.
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