DETROIT – Surveillance video from Sam Mazer's Mobil gas station on M-59 shows a man committing a trendy crime in Metro Detroit.
The man on video was armed with a saw as he stepped up to the building. Seconds later, he walked away with the sprinkler vacuum breaker.
"I glanced over there and noticed something was missing," Mazer said.
That's right. The vacuum break from his sprinkler system was noticeably missing.
For Mazer and his family-owned business, every penny counts. Replacing the sprinkler vacuum breaker will cost him many pennies.
"I gotta sell a weeks worth of gas to make that," he said.
He is not alone in Metro Detroit.
Mark Liss is an irrigation supervisor for Backer Landscaping. He has seen the sliced sprinkler vacuum breakers.
"They're paying anywhere from $1,200 to $2,000 to replace these things," Liss said.
It's causing widespread damage across the area.
"What I try to tell people is if you can kind of hide it, don't put it in the open," Liss said.
He said there are definitely ways to protect it.
"Either get it plumbed on the inside or put unions on it," he said. "Light up your business. Make sure you have proper lighting around all four corners.
While police across Metro Detroit are searching for the man who hit Mazer's gas station, family business owners are sounding the alr,.
"Make sure you're aware of everything around in the area."