Dan Crapo shows the latch that was cut off his work trailer. More than $10,000 worth of equipment was stolen. (Photo Courtesy Derek Brade)

By Chris Brown

Equipment theft couldn’t come at a worse time for local landscaping company

Apr 20, 2022 | 4:49 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB – The owner of a local landscaping company says he feels violated and sad after more than $10,000 of tools and equipment was stolen from a work trailer.

Dan Crapo, who owns Digger Dan Landscaping, says members of his crew arrived at a job on the Southeast Hill on Monday morning to find the latches had been cut and the lock removed from the trailer.

He says concrete saws, impacts, saws, radios and pretty much anything that had a battery to it was taken.

“It’s definitely a feeling of violation. It’s sad. I’m not necessarily angry, it’s something that I have to get used to I have to move on and restart so I can keep working,” he said Wednesday.

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Crapo has filed a police report and is now working on other paperwork like insurance and with clients on getting jobs rescheduled.

He says this is his busy time of year so he and his crew already had a lot on their plate and now have another challenge to deal with.

“I just wanna work and I wanna complete the work that we have for our clients, they’re all very excited,” he says. “The season’s coming upon us where it gets warm and they want to enjoy their yard and that’s what brings me enjoyment to my life is seeing that they have something that they to be in.”

Crapo says it could be up to two months before he’s fully stocked and working at full capacity again.

He’s trying to stay positive about it and knows he’s not the only one struggling in this story.

“It’s kind of sad that we see people that are in need of stealing things and that kind of stuff. It’s kind of, I’d like to see something better for support and services so that people don’t have to do this or people don’t do this.”

Crapo has since invested in upgraded locks for his trailers and suggests other workplaces do the same.