Update: Habitat for Humanity equipment found; charges coming soon
Thousands of dollars of equipment stolen from Habitat for Humanity
WANTED: Police say the drivers of these
trucks stole $4,000 worth of equipment from a "Habitat for Humanity"
construction site.
ALEXIS ZOTOS-6 News Reporter
LOUDON (WATE) - Police are on the lookout for people responsible for stealing thousands of dollars of construction equipment from the Loudon County Habitat for Humanity site.
The organization was working on four homes in their Hope Haven subdivision in the city of Loudon when they noticed the equipment was missing.
Caught on recently installed surveillance cameras, two pickup trucks can be see speeding through the subdivision with pieces of equipment in the back.
"It's either someone we know or they got lucky finding it," said Timothy Lee, the contractor for the site.
Lee says three backhoe buckets were stolen. They usually sit in the gravel lot at the end of the subdivision.
"We've got to have them, it's something we can't do without," Lee explained.
The thieves took the items over three days and for executive director Shauna Oden it's a distraction from their mission.
"This year were trying to serve more families than we ever have by building 10 houses and so that's a big step for us and our schedule is very, very, tight," said Oden.
Lee says it's frustrating because he believes the metal has most likely been sold for scrap and he'll have to find $4,000 to replace the needed equipment.
"It makes you made to think about, something you've worked for years, for somebody to just take it like that," he said.
They hope the footage will help catch the suspects and the cameras will act as a reminder for others.
"We hope it will discourage people from coming in here in the future, we want a safe environment and we think it is, and we want it to stay that way," said Oden.
But in the meantime, they're not going to let the incident stop their mission.
"We've got other stuff to work with," Lee said. "They're not going to stop us from working."
If you have any information on the vehicles or the theft you are asked to call Loudon Police Department at 865-408-0408.