Police Searching For Suspect Who Stole Hundreds Of Christmas Trees
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MIAMI (CBSMiami) – A Christmas grinch stole not one, but two trailers full of Christmas trees from a Costco in Kendall. Police still have not recovered them.
They were swiped, stolen, hauled out while still in the refrigerated trailers, that they were transported in. Police say once they reached Weston, the thieves cut the GPS trackers used to monitor the trailers.
"They stole the whole trailer. They're just...desperate," said Mike Welsh, owner and operator of Welsh Transport.
Welsh unloaded his shipment of poinsettias at the Costco where those Christmas trees were stolen Tuesday night. He says he saw them while they were still outside the store.
"When I came here Tuesday and saw them I was like, those things are too easy to disappear," Welsh told CBS4's Natalia Zea.
He says he didn't see the trailers secured with a pin-lock designed to keep the trailers from being driven off...cargo and all.
Even if they were locked up though, he believes the cargo thieves would have succeeded with their plan.
"A lock just going to slow them down, if they knew what they're doing, they're desperate, they will take that right off."
Welsh has had one of his trailers stolen in the past and stepped up security measures to guard against holiday time thieves, including 2 pint sized Jack Russell terriers with a ferocious warning bark, and a full camera system all the way around the truck.
So far, neither the transporter, Florida Beauty nor Costco have commented to CBS4 on the theft of the hundreds of trees worth a total of $35,000.
A Costco spokesman told CBS4 news partners, the Miami Herald they will have enough trees for customers.
The stolen trailers say "Florida Beauty" in burgundy writing, and have license plates numbers 5468CQ and 4283CR.
If you've seen them, call Detective J. Guerra Jr. of the Kendall District, General Investigations Unit of Miami-Dade Police at 305-270-6929.
