‘Very frustrated’: Father’s livelihood threatened by constant crime
SPOKANE, Wash. — Continued theft is threatening a father’s livelihood. The owner says crime at his auto repair shop happens almost daily, and Spokane Police say they can’t keep up with all the crime in the community.
“I am very frustrated,” said Jesse Chaney. He owns Chaney’s Automotive.
He’s watching crime destroy his business every day. Walking around his shop, criminals have busted out fences, and piles of glass line the lot. For Chaney, the threat of theft is always on his mind.
“Every day, I come to work wondering what car got broken into,” he added.
His repair shop has security cameras all over, and he says he sees the same people committing the same crimes.
“We don’t have any help other than dealing with this, knowing that they’re just going to go sell whatever they stole our of our cars and it’s whatever,” Chaney exclaimed. “We got to pay it back.”
He’s losing money and trust in law enforcement.
“They just tell us to call Crime Check, and when we call Crime Check — it’s like a dead end at that point,” he said.
To make due, he’s now storing cars in bays overnight. He stacks them on top of each other. On Tuesday, every inch of his shop was full which means he’ll have to start turning away work because of the crime.
“Financially, it really ruins my family,” said Chaney.
He’s working with a gun on him these days saying he needs to have some sense of protection while he’s there.
“If they’re breaking into your cars, when are they going to rob you?”
Police tell 4 News Now they have to focus on violent crime because of staffing shortages. SPD said in a statement: “Resources don’t allow us to provide the level of service in all categories we like.”
So this business owner is left with a shattered sense of security and piles of problems from crime that isn’t getting better.
As police deal with staffing shortages, they say they’re trying to find new ways to deal with crime in the community. SPD is giving business owners tips on how they can best protect themselves from theft.
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