SEATTLE — A group of college students is looking for answers after thousands of dollars worth of equipment was stolen from their club.
The students are members of an engineering club at Seattle Pacific University.
"We're assuming they cut the lock and this is where we keep all of our tools and they pretty much emptied us out," said Kainoa Lee, a senior at SPU.
Lee is finishing up his college career at SPU with less optimism than he'd hoped for the future.
“It makes you not want to give people the benefit of the doubt, a lot of the times, especially when you're stealing from a group of students but hopefully what goes around, comes around," said Lee.
Lee is the director of the student-run club known as the Baja Society of Automotive Engineers, made up of 20 mechanical, electrical and computer engineering students.
They work throughout the year building off-road vehicles.
Two weeks ago, someone broke into the club's storage container on campus.
"This is where we kept all of our screwdrivers and a lot of our wrenches. We've got one left," said Lee.
The university's security office captured surveillance video the night of Oct. 25, of a white truck, with no license plates taking off with $8,000 worth of equipment inside. The university described the truck as a newer, white GMC. Three of its wheels had black rims or missing hubcaps, and the front driver's side wheel was silver. It has a trailer hitch and extended side mirrors, tinted windows and a sunroof.
Officials with SPU said there is no Seattle Police Department case number. They said the Office of Safety and Security has been trying to file a report to the Seattle Police Department on the non-emergency line.
Lee said the theft is devastating for this group that's funded through community donations.
"I hope you appreciate your tools as much as we did," he said. "They're super important to us and the team. They're important to teams before us, they were going to be important to teams after us."
Their next competition is coming up this spring. The engineers are hoping to raise enough money to replace their gear before then.
To donate to the club click here.