Christmas Eve Thieves Steal Carpenter's Tools
MODESTO (CBS13) - While Jamie Byous is grateful to be enjoying Christmas dinner with family, he's still pretty upset about getting ripped off.
His work trailer full of tools and equipment was stolen from outside of his house in Modesto around 7 p.m. Christmas Eve morning.
Byous was home at the time but didn't hear the two thieves pulling up in a pickup truck outside. Fortunately his surveillance camera captured the brazen deed. The video shows one of the suspects hopping out and lowering his trailer down onto the hitch of the getaway truck.
At one point one the suspect gets back in his truck to let a passing car go by, but when the coast cleared, the thieves finished the job, driving the trailer away.
A contractor by trade, for Byous, the trailer was more than simply mobile storage.
"It's my livelihood," he said. "There were nail guns and table saws and lasers and levels and nails and screws and vacuums and sanders of all different types and on and on and on," he said.
At least $25,000 worth between trailer, tools, and equipment he says. But Byous is trying to remain upbeat despite the loss.
"It's been hard. I've been trying to stay positive and think about the important things. Think about all the people that have lost in the fires and you know the storms in Florida. I'm still alive and have my family and friends" he says.
Byous filed a police report. He says both suspects appear to be Hispanic with their hair styled in ponytails. Based on the video, the victim believes the pickup truck is a Ford Ranger Edge between years 2001 and 2006 because those are the only years they were made.
Unfortunately, neither the trailer nor any of the tools or equipment was insured, so Byous hopes someone will see the video and call police with a tip to recover his possessions.
