Small business owner victim of odd theft
Unknown man steals from business three times - 13 On Your Side's Arlette Yousif reports
YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) - Nikki’s Chickies, a small farm offering fresh eggs, honey, and dates has fallen victim to a string of odd burglaries by the same perpetrator.
In a span of about two weeks, the shop owner tells us this same man has taken a backpack full of personal items, a birdhouse, baskets, and planters.
Items that owner Nikki Burns says are of no value to anyone else but her.
“It’s definitely just a shame that we’ve worked so hard on this garden for over a year and, you know, someone’s just coming and just taking things that, you know, they don’t really have much monetary value. I mean no food, it’s not water. It’s just things just to take just ‘cause it’s fun I guess. I don’t know,” says Nikki's Chickies Farm Owner Nikki Burns.
The close-knit community of business owners in the area look out for one another, and they say they want this man away from their place of business.
“There has been a few people that have been popping up. When they start coming over and stealing things is a totally different problem,” explains Honey Hair Studio Owner Deanna Ford.
Ford says she's a little on edge.
“I do feel a little uncomfortable. But I know we have Teezy’s right behind me and I always hear him and he’s here late, so I feel good with him around,” says Ford.
Burns says the man does not appear to be homeless, and that he is in different clothes each time he shows up.
“It’s definitely a shame that, you know, here in this community we can’t have, you know, these things out here. People are taking them like that,” explains Burns.
Burns says she has filed a police report and is spreading the word through social media and posting flyers nearby in hopes of getting this nuisance to stop.
Anyone who recognizes the man in the video or has information about this crime is asked to contact the Yuma Police Department (YPD) at (928) 783-4421 or 78-CRIME to remain anonymous.
