Thieves steal church van, chainsaws from SLO County business: ‘That’s pretty freaking low’
Two thieves stole a van from a Lutheran church in Atascadero early Saturday morning, then broke into a nearby business to steal outdoor power equipment, according to a city official.
The suspects took the white Ford van from the church to transport the stolen goods, Atascadero deputy city manager Terrie Banish said Wednesday.
Later, at 4:20 a.m. Saturday, they broke into Mid Coast Mower and Saw on El Camino Real in Atascadero and stole almost $3,000 of equipment, according to Margaret Wicks, who owns the business with her husband, Rick.
The business sells outdoor power equipment such as lawnmowers, trimmers and chainsaws.
Wicks and her husband learned about the burglary after receiving a call from a security company at 4:35 a.m., she said, and rushed to the store to assess the damage.
“It’s a crappy feeling because you don’t know what they’ve done, and you don’t know how bad it’s going to be,” Wicks said Wednesday.
According to Wicks, the suspects stole six chainsaws, a trimmer attachment and a pulse saw attachment.
Each item has a serial number, which Wicks will register as stolen in the product database. If the equipment shows up in another store, it could be identified as belonging to Wicks, she said.
The van stolen by the burglars was also involved in a commercial burglary in Paso Robles later that day, Banish said.
The California Highway Patrol found the van abandoned in Cholame, but did not locate the suspects or stolen items, Banish said.
“That really bugs me — that they went after a church van,” Wicks said. “That’s pretty freaking low if you ask me.”
Atascadero business targeted by burglars
This isn’t the first time burglars broke into Mid Coast Mower and Saw.
Thieves also broke into the store in 2008, 2010 and 2014, Wicks said, and each time she and her husband have increased security measures on site.
She plans to update the business’s security system further so it has faster alert times, she said.
“If they want in bad enough they’re going to find a way to get in,” Wicks said. “We have to slow them down to give the police a chance to get here.”
Wicks said she might have sympathy for the thieves under extenuating circumstances — but she assumes they had self-serving motivations.
“You better show me a starving family over across the way that you’re doing everything that you can to provide for, and that this must be the only possible way that you can try to do this,” Wicks said. “But I’m pretty sure that’s not the case.”
Wicks said she’s grateful that no one was harmed during the break in.
“Unfortunately, you have to let some of this roll off because otherwise you will fixate on it and it will just basically make you sick,” Wicks said.
This story was originally published October 4, 2023 at 2:22 PM with the headline "Thieves steal church van, chainsaws from SLO County business: ‘That’s pretty freaking low’."
