An Omaha home security company based out of Bellevue is using its own camera to help track down a thief who stole items from outside their building.
Chris Malmberg, the owner of Omaha Security Systems Inc. says an unidentified man stole nearly $300 worth of landscaping Sunday night.
"The motion sensors went off and I got a notification on my phone that he was there. We saw him take the plants, we watched him drive away and then immediately contacted police," said Malmberg. "He was real nervous, but he ended up stealing shrubbery, Hosta plants, I mean - never in my life have I ever known somebody to steal landscaping."
Malmberg said the plants could be replaced, but what's frustrating is that this is one of several vandalism incidents his business has experienced since OSSI moved into the building near Jefferson and Mission Ave.
"We've had vandalism, we've had items stolen, or attempted to be stolen, with the security that we have, because we're a security company, they don't get far before they're recognized and drop it and run," added Malmberg.
The company has recorded every incident with their security cameras.
"One time we caught a guy throwing a cinder block through one of our truck windows and within three days, we caught him through social media. We put out a reward and money talks. When there's a reward, your best friend will turn you in and he ended up paying for the damages," said Malmberg.
Malmberg said it's frustrating that people keep messing with his property, especially since he's trying to help revitalize the area, which hosts several empty businesses, including Bellevue's old City Hall.
"This building was empty for two years before we bought it. And we put a lot of money into it. A lot of our own money, and to have someone come up and just literally tear it apart and take it with them - we worked real hard for what we put in here and we planned very hard to figure out how we wanted it to look and we wanted to keep it look as original as possible to keep the Old Towne Bellevue look," said Malmberg.
The company filed a police report. Bellevue Police said it's hard to depict the suspect but are searching for a man wearing shorts and a t-shirt driving a small two or four door vehicle.
