$10,000 worth of items stolen from Cass County boat and dock business

CASS COUNTY, Mich. (WSBT) — A thief targeted a Cass County dock and boat lift service, stealing nearly $10,000 worth of dock parts from Pro Dock earlier this week.

With their alarms down, the suspect loaded up the back of a vehicle with valuable items, slipping away under the cover of a silent security system.

The timing couldn’t have been worse for Pro Dock, Inc. which had just moved into its new location.

On Tuesday night, with their security system still in transition, the business became a target for theft.

Roughly $10,000 in dock parts were taken right from their yard, leaving the company scrambling.

“We moved in during our busiest time of the season and we haven’t had the chance to get everything moved in and shelved and everything yet so we had a lot of things sitting outside,” said Karen Vaickus, Pro Dock Office Manager.

Security cameras caught the suspect loading valuable aluminum dock parts and core batteries into their car, filling both the backseat and side seat with thousands of dollars worth of items that Pro Dock says are essential for its seasonal operations.

Vaickus says she woke up in the middle of the night and saw the suspect on camera, but thought it was one of their employees.

Only to find out in the morning it was someone stealing their items, and instantly calling Drew, the store owner.

“I just panicked and called Drew and I said somebody stole dock parts out of the yard and he was like, why do you think that and I said, because I see them on the camera on stealing the stuff out of the yard,” said Vaickus.

They say it’s difficult to tell exactly what was taken, now having to go through inventory to find that out.

With spring orders to fulfill, Pro Dock now faces the challenge of replacing specific parts that were meant for customers.

As a small family-oriented business, they say the impact is felt by everyone on staff.

“We try to pay our employees as much as we can to help them get by. We feed a lot of families and you’re taking food out of everyone mouth when you steal from others,” said Vaickus.

Pro Dock was able to have their alarm systems looked at and confirm they are now working.

They hope to be able to have those stolen items returned so their customers can have their needed parts for the spring.