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SMITHFIELD — A Smithfield construction site was robbed of several specialized, expensive tools, and police say the thieves were specifically looking for the items.
Workers from Cameron's Excavating said that the break-in happened late Sunday night at the Stonehaven subdivision. The four tools are worth close to $8,000, and the employees said although there were only a few items taken, the items were crucial enough that a temporary halt was put on their work.
"Yeah, not a good Monday," said construction supervisor Karl Thomas. "We got here this morning, and (the trailer door) was open like that."
Thomas said that at first he didn't realize that any equipment was missing.
"My brother stopped by to get a laser that he was picking up to take to another site, so I assumed he had opened (the trailer)," Thomas said. "Then we both realized that something was missed. They took both pipe lasers, and a rotary laser and then ended up finding our chopsaw was gone. And a hammer drill."
Cache County police officers investigating the scene said that the very specific equipment was not a typical target for common thieves.
"Not your everyday tools," said officer Brett Stirland. "They definitely kind of knew what they were looking for."
Each tool is used specifically for excavating. Police said re-selling them wouldn't be easy since they draw a red flag at pawn shops, and each item has recorded serial numbers.
"They actually left some other valuable items in the trailer, but specificially went for these lasers," Stirland said.
Workers at Cameron Excavating had to borrow equipment from other contractors to continue working Monday.
"It's going to hurt us in today's economy," Thomas said. "This used to be a good little community. I grew up here my whole life, and we never even had to lock our doors."
Smithfield Police said they have had several other storage-type burglaries in the area, but nothing else involving such specific types of tools.
