DAVIE, Fla. – Authorities are searching for a thief who was caught on camera breaking into a van and then taking off with equipment and causing thousands of dollars’ worth of damage in Davie.
Peter Brignola owns Briggs Cooling, a cooling and refrigeration company that’s been family-owned and operated in Broward County since 2006.
Brignola told Local 10 News when he woke up on Tuesday morning, he saw notifications on his phone from his camera system that he had installed outside of his business.
“So, I checked the notifications and I saw that at 6:08 in the morning, a gentleman was breaking into my vehicle,” he said.
The thief in the video, who is wearing an orange shirt and a hard hat, had backed his truck right up in front of the entrance of Briggs Cooling.
Video surveillance showed the man using a flashlight to look into the back of one of the businesses work vans and then smashing the window with what appeared to be a glass punch.
The video showed the man pulling out a few tools and about $500 worth of copper piping before taking off.
Brignola says he called the police and then put up a sign in the broken window saying that he’d rather help out someone in need than see his equipment get stolen.
“I try to do the best I can for everybody. I’d rather try to help the guy. If the guy had knocked on the window on the door and said ‘I’m struggling. Do you have a job for us or do you have some money?’ I would’ve given it to him.”' he said.
Authorities are urging anyone who recognizes the man in the video to call Broward Crime Stoppers at 954-493-8477.