Thieves steal $60,000 worth of equipment from work truck in Paramount

Surveillance video captured the moment thieves pulled up to a home in Paramount and stole a work truck with tens of thousands of dollars worth of equipment from a family run plumbing business inside the vehicle.

The heist happened in broad daylight. Within just a matter of minutes, the truck’s owner, Israel Galarza, estimates the thieves made off with nearly $60,000 of his tools, making it difficult for him to even do his job.

“We’ve worked so hard for every little tool and part in this truck,” he told KTLA.

The owner of Galarza Plumbing said he’d been completing a job on Marcelle Street when the incident happened. On Friday, his truck was found, but not only were his tools gone, the vehicle’s catalytic converter had been taken and the hood stripped from the car as well.

“For a two minute, one minute thing to completely…somebody to take your livelihood away. Just looking at what the results are, it just sucks. It really sucks,” Galarza said.

Along with the $60,000 worth of plumbing equipment stolen, thieves also stole the car’s catalytic converter and stripped the hood off the vehicle. (KTLA)

It’s taken nearly 20 years of saving to start his business, and Galarza said the theft has been a major setback, making it hard for him to respond to calls. A neighbor in the area said that his doorbell camera captures quite a few car-related thefts.

“You just see, like, mostly people late night, pulling up, probably like a catalytic converter theft or something like that. It’s a serious concern because everyone has cars parked on the street,” the neighbor told KTLA.

In the meantime, Galarza and his family set up a GoFundMe campaign ^[1], which has raised half of the funds needed to replace his stolen equipment. He said he’s grateful for the community support and is hopeful about getting back to work.

“I just want to spread the world, to let everybody be aware because this is difficult, especially for a small business to recover from something like this. Sometimes, it will even shut them down,” he said.

So far, no arrests have been made.

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References

^{^} GoFundMe campaign (www.gofundme.com)
^{^} For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTLA. (ktla.com)