Owner speaks up after $12K worth of saws stolen from hardware store during overnight break-in

GONZALES, La. (WAFB) - From the outside, everything looks fine at Hutch’s Ace Hardware in Gonzales. But inside, some shelves are left bare after thieves helped themselves.

“You feel violated. Nobody expects this to happen,” said Jacob Hutchison, the business’s owner and manager.

On June 4, Hutchison was woken up when he got alerted that the alarm at his store was going off. He arrived at the store around 5 a.m. Just 20 minutes before that, thieves smashed through the glass door, made their way into the store, and took more than $12,000 worth of merchandise.

“Most of the people come to us with problems around their house. We hate that we have this problem. It’s disheartening. It makes the work less fun,” Hutchison explained.

In the surveillance video, the masked men pull up to the store in a dark-colored car. Once they make their way in, they are only inside for a few minutes.

According to investigators with the Ascension Parish Sheriff’s Office, the men made off with nine chainsaws and a chop saw.

“It means they walk among us. These are the people that look innocent. They either canvas the place, or they have someone do it for them,” Hutchison added.

Deputies say the thieves are not believed to be from the parish and may be part of other burglaries in surrounding areas.

Hutchison says this has made him review his security plans moving forward.

“These folks are getting more unpredictable, so we have to be unpredictable,” Hutchison continued.

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