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Drone thefts driving companies out of business

Posted at 11:30 PM, Dec 04, 2017
and last updated 2017-12-05 02:36:00-05

SAN DIEGO (KGTV) -- A San Diego drone store says thefts are becoming so frequent that they might not be able to stay in business. 

Sean Daniels said his store, EZDrone has been hit six times, and it's cost him more than $60,000. 

This time he caught the thief in the act - and realized he's been to the store before. 

"Grabs that chair, boom, takes off, out the door," Daniels said with disgust. "Car's waiting right out here, jumps in the passenger seat, he's gone."

The store has beefed up security by adding cameras, reinforcing windows and adding massive locks to the front door. Regardless, thieves are making off with merchandise. 

Daniels says the problem is industry-wide. So bad that many drone companies aren't even insurable. Including his own. 

"We cant catch the guys, we cant get insured, what are we supposed to do? They're stealing directly out of my pocket" he said. "There have been other drone companies that have literally gone out of business because they've been robbed so many times, they just can't keep up."

Daniels has a message for the man captured in the surveillance video shared by 10News. A man who Daniels says has stolen from another drone shop in town: "Come see us again."

Daniels has filed a police report and police tell 10News they are working on the case.