JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Business remains at a standstill at a local gutter company days after its equipment and trailer worth $35,000 ?was stolen by two men.
Gutter Helmet of North Florida has received some tips from the community that the owner hopes will help find the missing trailer, but so far that hasn't happened.
Normally when workers show up, metal reels and other pieces are loaded into the trailer and taken out to be installed in homes and businesses. Since the trailer was stolen, workers are having to find other things to do around the shop to keep earning a paycheck.
Surveillance video shows men in a two-door GMC pickup truck came to the gutter shop and took the trailer early Monday morning. The owner of the company, Kevin Booth, said that there isn't much that the company can do without the trailer and tools that were inside it.
"They want to work. They have families to support. They're here trying to do what we can to help out," Booth said. "They are cleaning the vans that we have and doing some work inside the warehouse just trying to stay busy and keep positive."
"We are kind of having to rotate between crews. We've got a couple days off and a couple days on," Gutter Helmet employee Gregory Ramirez said. "It really hurts. I've got a family at home with three kids and a wife. It makes it hard."
The company has received a lot of support from other businesses in the community, including a company that offered to let Gutter Helmet use its trailer until the stolen trailer is recovered or replaced. But Booth said right now he can't take the company up on its offer since he doesn't have any tools.
"Inside the trailer, we had a gutter machine in there," Booth said. "That was probably one of the major expenses. We are researching a gutter machine first, so if we can get one first, then that's a possibility."
One of the things hurting the search for the trailer is that the security cameras didn't record the license plate number of the truck that took the trailer. A security camera installer said that having the right type of camera is crucial to protecting a business or home.
"We know the different situations, and we have the tools to determine light levels, what's going to be the best camera for that specific situation," said James Cooper of Intrusion Protection Systems. "Generic cameras give you a generic picture. Specific cameras give you exactly what you want to get -- that face shot -- and put a bite on crime."
Booth is still asking anyone with any information about the stolen trailer to call the sheriff's office at 904-630-0500. He said that until the trailer and tools can be found or replaced, he will keep trying to find as much work as possible for the employees around the building.