Thief breaks through wall of Lynnwood business to steal power equipment

LYNNWOOD, Wash. -- After 30 years in business, few things surprise Gary Van Klaveren. But this...

"My mind is blank, I don't know what to say," he said Friday night. "When you first see it, it kind of (made me) sick to to my stomach."

On Wednesday morning, video cameras record a man coming into his closed business -- not through the door or a window, but through the wall of his business, Evergreen Mowers.

"Once he got started," Van Klaveren said, "he just peeled it off like nothing."



The thief simply broke through the drywall of the building.

From there, the burglar crawls through and starts to steal more than $1,000 in merchandise.

"He took a pole saw, then he took two blowers," the owner said. "Then he got his car and loaded it up with what he wanted."

Lynnwood Police Detective Bill Koonce said, "Drywall burglaries have actually been around for decades."

The business had cement fiber board walls. "It's a fiberglass paper cement and it's pretty easy to break," Van Klaveren conceded.

"We've seen people go through just about everything, including masonry. If they have a good enough reason to get through the other side, they can get through," Koonce said.

If you recognize the suspect or his silver getaway car, you're asked to call Lynnwood Police or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS.