Thieves hit trucking company stealing vehicle batteries

CLINTON TWP - Some crooks were caught on camera stealing vehicle batteries from a trucking business.

"It's a family business and it's just killing us right now," said Nevzeta Velic.

Velic transportation hauls everything from produce to car parts. But the fleet of semi-trucks is basically huge paperweights without a battery.

"We have 24 trucks right now," said Velic. "If they sit we lose money, we need them running all the time."

A total of four separate times thieves like the ones caught on camera have been prowling around the back of the business on 15 Mile near Groesbeck at night methodically stealing truck batteries.

"They just keep coming back and I believe it's the same people over and over again," Velic said.

At first it started with one battery stolen a night. But on the latest visit Friday. the thieves hit them hard.

"Twenty-two all together," she said. "Sixteen truck batteries and six car batteries."

It's as if the thieves are clocking in for a night shift spending four hours back here looking for these truck batteries, each weighing 80 pounds. They simply pop open the hood and unhinge the battery.

On video you can see one thief carrying two at time. They stack the batteries up in one location, then load a car and leave before the businesses around them open for the morning.

The family-run business is sharing the video with hopes of catching the people responsible and warning others at the same time.

"There are at least 10 different truck companies down the road," Velic said. "Hopefully they will keep an eye out more and catch them."

Police did recover tools that were left at crime scene but so far no arrests.