SAN ANTONIO – A suspect ravaged through a dog day care center being built and made off with thousands of dollars worth of copper wiring, according to San Antonio police.
Since the thefts, Dogtopia of San Antonio - Alamo Heights, has had to postpone its grand opening. Police are still searching for the suspect.
The incident happened on Easter weekend on April 7 in the 3800 block of Broadway Avenue and again a few days later.
A report from SAPD claims during the first theft, the suspect went into the building and stole tools, and other materials and cut all of the installed copper wiring inside before leaving the scene.
The front door to the business is blocked by a piece of plywood and a metal bar, held on by a few screws. The suspect was able to remove the screws and make their way inside, police said.
Authorities said the suspect cut copper wires from the electrical box inside the building before making their way to all of the exterior electrical boxes to cut the wires out.
The suspect then cut and removed the copper wires from the new large exterior A/C unit outside, in the back of the building, before leaving the scene, SAPD said.
Police believe the suspect may have exited through a chain-link fence.
The dog day care center didn’t have surveillance cameras on the property at the time of the incident, and police are still looking for leads to track down the suspect.
Regional Manager of Dogtopia Marc Olson said their center’s grand opening is pushed back to May 1st.
“About 150,000, almost $200,000 (worth of copper wiring was stolen),” Olson said. “Also, our community, you know, our employees that have been looking to start and get into working, supporting their families, they’re having to wait a little bit as well.”
Dogtopia also shared a statement on social media on Friday.
You can read the statement below:
If captured, the suspect is facing charges of theft of metal-alum/bronze/copper < $20K and burglary of a building w/ intent to commit theft/felony.
We’ll bring more updates to this story as they become available.