NORTH BEND, Wash. — Every month, more than 1,000 vehicles are reported stolen in King County alone, according to the Puget Sound Auto Theft Task Force.
Over the weekend, Gary King, the owner of King's Quality Auto Shop in North Bend, said he nearly became a victim.
On Monday, King pointed out where thieves got into his business.
"They came up and they unscrewed the wall right here and then they peeled it back,” said King.
Four people were on the property Saturday night as surveillance cameras were recording.
"The video shows me that they were kind of fumbling around in there,” said King. "They dug through and found the keys. There were quite a few cars we had for sale, and all of the cars we have coming up for sale that we were preparing, they took all of those."
"They must have seen the cameras there and figured that if they shut the power off they'd cut the cameras off,” said King.
He said by the time they did that there was already 40 minutes of surveillance footage.
When the group was ready to leave, one of King’s friends showed up.
"I'd say it is God's timing for sure, definitely,” said King. "Jacob pulled up just in time, and they must have seen him, and it scared them."
According to King, one member of the group attempted to steal a vehicle on the property.
"She freaked out, turned around and drove straight across the parking lot into about a 3-foot ditch and then got out and ran to the road and almost got hit,” said King. "They all jumped in the same truck and drove off."
King said it was a break-in that could have been very costly.
"It could have been huge because they had literally all of our power tools loaded up. That would have been a bad day,” said King.