CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A business owner tired of being the victim of thieves took an unusual step to catch one this weekend.
Mike Holcomb runs a demolition company working to clear houses and commercial buildings from a city block at West Boulevard and Camden Road.
For weeks he says thieves have been stealing copper and other metals that he intended to salvage from the site.
He's tried everything he can think of to discourage them, even installing motion-sensitive cameras on the property.
This weekend, though, a thief hit again.
Saturday afternoon crews working on the site saw a man loading his pickup truck with pieces of aluminum and steel from the site. Before they could catch him, he drove off.
Workers did spot his license plate number though, so when they saw his truck pull into the site again on Sunday they were ready.
Holcomb said he ordered crews to block the man from leaving.
"We instructed them to block the gates. I had a dump truck pull in here and block the gate and a track hoe block that gate. The guy had a bit of a surprise when he went to leave, " Holcomb said.
Holcomb called police, who arrived and issued the driver of the truck a citation.
He said he hopes his actions will send a message.
"I don't know if it'll stop him or not, but it'll definitely slow him down," he said.
WSOC
