A small excavating business owner in Perth County is in shock after all but one piece of his equipment was stolen.
Sometime between last Sunday and Monday, thieves entered Rapien Excavating in Staffa and took a skid steer, mini excavator, a dump truck, and a trailer.
Owner Isaac Rapien said the theft has brought his business to a halt.
"We're just beside ourselves. Really don't know what to do," said Rapien. "Insurance companies won't do anything for two weeks minimum, they said, because that is typically when stuff gets recovered."
The stolen items are described as a grey and yellow 2014 New Holland C238 skid steer with a Delta Power sticker, a 2007 yellow Case CX50B mini excavator with a 4' ditching bucket and thumb blade attached and dent on the right side of the cab, and a 2010 Mack Granite dumb truck with white cab and blue dump box, aluminum wheels on the front and white steel rims on the back. It also has a Canada leaf on door with Canadian flags and a three-way dump box on the rear.
Perth OPP were immediately notified about the theft.
"When I first realized the machines were gone I called the cops and reported it," said Rapien. "Then it wasn't until about 15 minutes later that I actually realized the truck and trailer were gone too because I was just so worked-up about it."
The trailer was recovered by police on Tuesday in Howick Township and Rapien is hopeful the other items will also be found as the job he had scheduled for this week has been put on hold as a result of the theft.
"It's caused a bit of a mess," said Rapien, who added that he is grateful for everything the public has been doing to try to support him, including sharing pictures of the stolen equipment.
Police are asking anyone with information about the theft or who has video footage that could assist the investigation to call them at 1-888-310-1122 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS).
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