MESA, AZ — A Valley business is starting the new year with a daunting to-do list. Mulqueen Sewing Center is dealing with thousands of dollars in damage, done by a drill and a man looking to steal diesel fuel.
"You can actually see where it's getting eaten away," said Gerard Mulqueen, whose family owns Mulqueen Sewing Center.
It's been more than a month since a man unleashed gallons of gas into the company's parking lot near Main Street and Val Vista Drive in Mesa. Employees and customers are still dealing with the damage daily.
Surveillance footage shows a black truck pulling in just before 1:00 p.m. on Sunday, November 24. You see a man walk to the van and crawl underneath. He drilled holes in the tanks of all three delivery vans and Mulqueen says his family's business was not the only victim.
"Our neighbor, they got hit, they rent out U-Hauls and apparently as far as Sossaman and Main Street, all the way up to the U-Haul on Lindsay and Main," said Mulqueen.
Mulqueen chose to patch the tanks to save some cash but says the hardest hit will be replacing the diesel-soaked asphalt.
"It's be probably $10,000 to $15,000 over there," he said. "Another $15,000 or $20,000 over there, but a new parking lot is just out of the questions, there's just no way."
Still it is a concern for others that is fueling his calls for justice.
"I don't want some other person, or that guy going to someone's front yard and stealing gas out of someone's car and now they're out without a car or something like that," said Mulqueen.
Mesa police are investigating but say there isn't much to go on. Anyone with information should give them a call.
