Construction Site Thefts on the Rise

CARY, N.C. — From Wake to Granville to Cumberland County, thieves are targeting construction sites more and more.

Cary is the latest area of concern where police say thieves hit sites about once every two and a half days. That’s more than double the number of thefts two years ago.

Everette Austin was a victim of theft on Tuesday when his truck was stolen, along with all his equipment inside.

“Saws, tools, all kinds of carpentry tools,” Austin said. “My truck was almost full. You couldn’t hardly get in the back of the pick-up truck."

As part of his job, Austin said he gets in and out of his truck about 30 to 40 times per day. So, he leaves his truck doors open and the keys in the ignition. It was this lack of security that left him without a truck.

“You got to go down and get tools, do this and go back. It’s a typical thing. A lot of construction people do it,” he said.

But leaving trucks unlocked is the exact thing police urge people not to do.

“One of the things that people can simply do in a lot of these cases it to very visibly mark their tools so they’re not something that someone wants, because it’s so obvious that it’s someone’s property. And lock things up,” said Cary Police Capt. David Wulff.

Construction supervisors said sometimes that's easier said than done.

Scott Marrow, with CPI Security Systems, said some of the larger vendors with electrical goods, shingles, siding and other items have to leave them at the site.

“It’s unfortunate, but sometimes they do disappear,” Marrow said.

And with so much development, workers said it's no wonder job site thefts are on the rise.