A Fort Worth garden center says thieves stole thousands of dollars in trees from their property in the middle of the night, and it’s not the first time they’ve been robbed.
A Fort Worth garden center says thieves stole thousands of dollars in trees from their property in the middle of the night, and it’s not the first time they’ve been robbed.
It happened at The Tree Place on I-20 in southeast Fort Worth early on the morning of October 12, with police opening an investigation this month.
Surveillance video from the incident showed two suspects creep into the nursery. Each of them could be seen grabbing a tree in each hand before taking off.
“It’s unfortunate, but it’s part of life unfortunately,” said Matthew Hafkesbring, Operations Manager at The Tree Place.
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The business has security cameras everywhere, but on this night they weren’t enough. Video showed a white car pull up alongside the business – where two suspects then tore open the chain link fence, making their way into the property.
“Took plants from the front and the back, they even tried to break into one of our buildings in the back of the nursery here,” said Hafkesbring.
Checking the footage the next day, owners could only watch as the suspects dragged trees through their parking lot and walked off with their hands full of flowerpots.
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Between the products stolen and the damage to the property, The Tree Place told NBC 5 they were out at least $10,000.
“A lot of people work really hard to make this place what it is,” said Hafkesbring. “And just to have somebody come in and take from that is upsetting, obviously.”
The Tree Place filed a police report and Fort Worth PD says it’s investigating.
The suspects weren’t covering their faces in the surveillance video, and police said they recovered one of their cell phones at the scene.
The business told NBC 5 they were hopeful the thieves would be caught – but after being robbed another time just weeks earlier, they’re frustrated too.
“It’s a little scary for sure, I mean, there’s not really anything you can do,” said Hafkesbring. “You can try to do a bunch of preventative things like setting up cameras, but ultimately if somebody wants to steal from you, they’re going to steal from you.”
The Tree Place said they would like to see more police presence overnight in the area to protect small businesses. We asked Fort Worth PD for a response.
“The Fort Worth Police Department is steadfast in its mission to ensure the safety and well-being of all members of our community, including residents and businesses alike,” the department said in a statement.
