Construction site thefts

Two men were caught on camera taking tools and building material from a Desantis Homes construction site on Stoney Creek mountain at the end of February. Two weeks later thanks to surveillance video shown on media outlets police were able to lay charges.

Desantis Homes employs Caliber Communications to watch over their construction sites. The surveillance company can see trespassers and thieves breaking the law in real time.

“It’s happening all the time. I couldn’t even put a number on it, it’s so large”. Joe Perfetto, Caliber Communications.

They use a speaker system and sirens to deter the criminals, but sometimes it’s not enough. In this case the thieves got away with thousands of dollars worth of tools and supplies.

On March 15th police were called to a home on Stoney Creek mountain because of a disturbance. They were able to identify a man at the home, 34 year old Michael Kergan and charged him with three counts of possession of stolen property and break and enter. A second man, 36 year old Bradley Mark faces similar offences, but is still wanted.

Police say the charges are thanks to the clear surveillance footage that was released to the media by the construction company. Police say if you are going to invest in surveillance cameras, video quality is important.

“There’s no point in having video that can’t identify the faces of the suspects or a license plate. If you are going to invest make sure you have high quality resolution video and supported lighting.”