They say this isn't the only time they've been ripped off, and they're sick of it. The center says the thief took his time, grabbing several items from the Attitude, Respect & Manners Child Care off South Kirkwood and Bissonnet.
Its not every day you see such great footage of a criminal in action. Folks at this day care say they put up all the cameras here because they've been victimized before and didn't want it to happen again.
Last Thursday morning, surveillance cameras caught a man using playground equipment to smash a window. He yanked out insulation and then kicked in the wall behind it.
"I was amazed when I seen that this was the way he entered in," said Tikisha Powell-Brown, director of Attitude, Respect & Manners Child Care.
It rude awakening for the facility.
"He crawled in here, in the lower part of the wall," Powell-Brown said.
For the better part of four hours, the thief made his way in and out of the day care. In no apparent rush, he waltzed from classroom to classroom, collecting computers and even ripped a flat screen TV right off the wall.
"It makes me angry, it makes me sick to my stomach that someone would choose a day care -- a school where we're trying to educate the kids of our future," Powell-Brown said.
He got away with the TV and three computers. Replacing them means thousands of dollars in expenditures that would otherwise be used for the kids.
"That should be really off limits man, I mean seriously, I don't know what type of person would do that," parent Shelby Smith said.
He'd tried also to get into the A/C units, presumably for the copper, but the owners caged them after thieves stole portions on two prior occasions. They added the surveillance cameras after that, which they hope this time will help catch the crook. The owners of the day care asking you to take a good look at his face, adding that he might be one to benefit from a lesson in "respect" and "manners" as well.
The owners of the day care are offering a $500 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction. If you recognize the thief, you can contact the Houston Police Department.
