A local business owner whose shop in Mesquite was burglarized in August is hoping someone can identify the suspects.
Jorge Cortes, the owner of Stiles Automotive, located at 5201 Gus Thomasson Rd., said the burglars carted away a safe full of money.
Cortes said the incident happened on August 31, before anyone came to work for the day. The money stolen from his cash box and safe amounted to tens of thousands of dollars.
A surveillance camera recorded the burglary, but the camera and alarms he set up did not prevent the theft.
Surveillance video showed that two people dressed in hoods committed the burglary, getting out of a white truck parked outside the shop just before 5 a.m. Upon entering the shop, they immediately rummaged through the drawers, eventually finding a black safe and a silver cash box.
One of the two can be seen carrying the safe out as the alarm continues blaring.
Cortes was later notified to head to the shop, and he said that finding the money stolen served as a rude awakening.
“I think it was stupid to leave it in there, honestly,” Cortes said, referring to the safe that had housed his savings for business renovations and other personal reasons.
“It happened once, won’t happen twice. I learned my lesson,” he added.
Answering questions about how the suspects gained entry into the shop, Cortes said they began by cutting the lock with a saw.
“You can tell right there; they cut the lock with the saw; they punched the window, and he put his hand in there, and then unlocked from the inside,” he said.
Cortes has been in the automotive business since he was 24.
“I love my job,” he said. “It’s one of my things.”
Despite the setback, Cortes is willing to start again as he said the shop would reopen for business on the Tuesday after Labor Day.
“We are here for business, and we are going to keep going and offer service to the community,” he assured.
Additionally, Cortes is offering a reward for any information leading to an arrest.
