COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — Barrington Kelley describes working with his landscaping company Green & Growing as shaping God's green Earth.
"Oh dude, I have the most beautiful office on the planet!'" he told me on a windy Sunday afternoon.
He says he first started working with plants and the outdoors by watching YouTube videos and repairing old equipment. After he sold that for new gear, he's had a successful business in Colorado Springs. But at the beginning of March, Kelley was getting ready for an early morning job when his truck seemed emptier than usual.
"When i jumped in the bed of my truck, I was like 'hm! That's pretty empty, did I move everything?'" he said.
Kelley had security footage of two thieves pulling up in a Black Jeep, stealing more than $1,000 worth of equipment out of his work truck, and driving away.
"Well, it's not just exclusive to Colorado Springs. It's all over the state, and it's all over the country," said Crime Prevention Officer with M.J. Thomson with the Colorado Springs Police Department (CSPD).
Police say theft from motor vehicles is up 6% compared to last year. They recommend filing a report as soon as possible if it happens to you.
But Kelley isn't mad about the theft of his tools. In fact, he told me he forgives the thieves and wants to offer an olive branch.
"I've said it publicly. I'll sign paperwork. I don't want these people arrested. I don't want them charged. I want to talk to them," he told me.
Kelley isn't interested in pressing any charges, he wants to give the thieves a job.
"If our judicial system would have been able to fix this by dulling out charge after charge, this would have been fixed years ago," he said. "At the very least, maybe they won't do this again to someone else and they'll find a different way. But at the very most maybe I can help somebody become a leader that gives back to this community instead of takes from it."
If you have information on the two people responsible for taking those tools, Kelley requests you reach out to them on his businesses' Facebook page.
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