Police: Thieves Strike Business in Broad Daylight

Mauldin Police said they are looking for two Hispanic males who managed to steal a vanload of construction shingles from GBS Lumber, according to an incident report.

The incident happened around 2 p.m. on June 28 at the store, located on Old Mill Road. Despite the best efforts of one conscientious employee at the store, the two men were able to get away with 30 bundles of shingles valued at $600, the report said.

The employee saw the two men loading the shingles into the van from the storage and loading area behind the store and walked outside to check on them, the report said. When asked if they had a receipt for the shingles, the two men replied that "the boss" had it inside at the storage counter, the report said.

The employee told the men not to move while he checked, and also told a guard at the store's gate not to let them leave unless they could show a receipt, the report said.

There was no "boss" inside, and when the employee went back outside to confront the men, he realized they had escaped in their loaded van through the rear of the business, which was wide open due to neighboring construction and a hole cut in the fence from a previous theft, the report said.

The employee surmised that the pair must have driven around the back of the building and through the compromised fence, the report said.

The employee told police the white, work van had paper tags and little else to distinguish it. Another employee said the two men had been in the store before on numerous occasions. The report said the business had no surveillance cameras in the area where the theft occurred.

A police search of local construction sites yielded negative results, though the employee told police the men probably intended to use the shingles themselves, since they wouldn't fetch much if they tried to sell them, the report said.