Birmingham small business says criminals repeatedly steal his equipment

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WBRC) - A small business owner in Birmingham is missing over $20,000 worth of lawn equipment after it was stolen from his home this weekend.

“This is like 8 times now,” said Andrew Harris. “Yeah, we’re being targeted. This has been going on for almost three months.”

Andrew Harris owns Sweat Equity, a lawncare and handy man service. He says at this point, his home in Bush Hills seems to be a target and it’s ruining his livelihood.

“I do my due diligence,” he explains. “I get everything insured. I pay for my things and this guy will come and just take whatever and then I’m left to work even harder, longer -- 18 hour days. That’s what I usually work.”

Harris says a silver and chrome Dodge Ram with brush guards seems to stake out his home a few days before the incident. The same truck showed up on Saturday when his equipment was stolen, which included brand new equipment such as a trailer, lawn mower, walk behind, weed eater, backpack blower, gas cans filled with gas, and more.

All of the items help him provide for his family.

The entire incident was caught on his home surveillance system. At first you can see a man in a neon shirt and vest walk into frame and turn around. When he returns, he has a something covering his face.

“This guy looks like he was going to go to work that day,” said Harris. “He’s a heavier set guy and if not for this guy, they wouldn’t have gotten it.”

While several men helped with this theft, he said it tends to be one guy alone. When he reports the incidents to the police over the past few months, he said there isn’t much response.

“Call them: ‘Well they’re not in or they don’t work weekends and so they’ll call you back or whatever,’ he explains. “I know they’re busy and I know there are other things important to people but this is important to me because this is draining me.”

He finally got to meet with police on Monday but unfortunately, much of his big ticket items are already gone. He says the latest incident could’ve been avoided if police took action months ago.

Because police weren’t responding to most of his incidents, he went searching for answers himself. On Monday, he found one of the men at a nearby gas station selling someone else’s lawn mower. Harris said he called police and the man was arrested.

WBRC reached out to BPD for some details on the incident, but they didn’t respond as of Monday night.

Now, he really just wants his equipment back. If you have any information or spot people selling items that look out of place, call Birmingham Police.

To reach Andrew Harris for handy man work or to share information, you can email him at sweatequityllc22@gmail.com.

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