SAN ANTONIO - A man is accused of stealing a car and then using it to break in and steal welding equipment.
The man was caught in the act, not only by police but on surveillance video.
Employees at Welding House in the 1700 block of Southeast Loop 410 were left to clean up glass and replace a bent door frame.
"Just a crazy morning," said manager Gary Shuler. "And trying to get the doors replaced today and get the alarms refixed."
But while the alarms were going off, a camera caught images of the 33-year-old suspect.
"The surveillance video shows when he walked in, and he went right to the stuff," Shuler told us. "You know, he didn't have to look around. He was in the store 2 minutes."
That's all it took for the man to ransack the place. Police suspect he'd been at the store before and knew how valuable welding equipment can be.
"The resale value is real good on it, and they can move it fast," explained Shuler. "Welding machines, there's always a demand for them."
Shuler said the man was caught in the act, loading stolen equipment into his car. Police then tried to pull him over. He made a U-turn, going the wrong way along Loop 410. Officers caught up with him about a block away. Out of breath and hurting, police say the suspect had a stolen car loaded with the welding goods which had just been taken.
"They returned all of it. Personally found all of it," Shuler said. "Part of it was on the access road of, of the freeway out here, in the bar ditch, but we did get all the merchandise returned."
Shuler says he'll have cement barriers put up in front of the garage, and hopes it will detour future break-ins at the store.
The suspect now faces evading arrest and theft charges.
