Two thieves cleverly disguised as construction workers made off with 100 feet in steel fencing from a New Mexico distillery — shocking the owner, who pleaded with the public to give the yet-to-open location “a f–king chance.”
Frank Holloway, the owner of the Hollow Spirts Distillery in Albuquerque, New Mexico, thought he was hallucinating when half the fencing at his second location’s backyard vanished on April 30.
“They stole our fence. I didn’t realize people steal fences,” Holloway told KOB 4.
He assumed someone swiped it overnight — but security footage quickly proved him wrong.
Two men, whose faces were largely obscured by their bulky hard hats, showed up in the middle of the day and handily removed 100 feet of fencing in under two hours, according to the video.
The pair started by sawing off the bottom of the fence, which connected it to the ground.
The thieves were seemingly satisfied after they removed 10 sections of the fence. All the materials were placed in an idling flatbed truck parked on the corner nearest to the fences, according to surveillance footage obtained by the outlet.
Holloway said that the duo’s “construction crew” disguise fooled dozens of unknowing witnesses.
“They came, they cut everything, looks like pretty decent cuts so they clearly knew what they were doing. But goddammit Albuquerque like, I love us, but just one time, give us a f–king chance,” Holloway begged on Facebook.
The Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office speculated that the thieves were planning on reselling the fence materials, which can go for up to 80% market value.
“It’s going to cost us $10,000 and get them $100. I’m just more disappointed in the crime. It’s like, be better,” Holloway told the outlet.
“$10,000 is a lot of money, and it’s a lot of money that we did not plan for unfortunately. You could blame us for not planning for it, but I didn’t think my fence was gonna get stolen,” he added.
