Two men have been caught on surveillance cameras stealing cars in the middle of the night from Burnett Automotive in Overland Park, Kan. They broke the front door, opened the bays from inside, and drove away with a pickup truck and a Jeep.
“I’m super pissed off,” shop owner Conrad Knipp told KCTV.
Burnett Automotive has been in business since 1967. They work on about 1,500 cars a week at their six locations in the Overland Park area. Knipp said it was very difficult to notify his customers.
“Calling and saying, ‘Hey, we’ve had possession of your vehicle, and we’ve lost possession of that,’ that’s about the worst feeling you can have as a shop owner because, you know, we’re here to fix the cars and make them better, not lose them,” said Knipp.
Knipp's 16 cameras in the shop helped identify one of the men who had a warrant out for his arrest due to other stolen vehicles. Knipp posted the video on the Stolen KC Facebook page, and it generated a name right away.
“The people running the Facebook site immediately named him. They knew him from way back when,” said Knipp.
Police found the stolen Jeep Monday morning. The jeep was damaged but able to be repaired at a body shop. They’re still looking for the pickup and the man they’ve identified.
Knipp told KCTV that his customers have been understanding. Now he’s using this as a learning moment, working to evaluate how he can improve security at the shop.
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