Gardena plumber devastated after thieves escape with van, $30,000 worth of tools

A Gardena plumber is devastated after thieves stole his work van and escaped with thousands of dollars worth of valuable tools.

The victim, Robert Powell, is now out of work and doesn’t know how long it’ll take to replace all of his stolen tools and equipment. 

The theft happened on Thursday morning as home surveillance cameras captured the brazen theft outside his home. 

“At 4:30 a.m. this morning, they came and took it,” Powell said, on the verge of tears. “It’s hard to replace $30,000 worth of equipment that has taken you 10 years to accumulate.”

Video shows an SUV pulling up to Powell’s work truck parked on his driveway. A man in a hoodie steps out of the car and peers into the truck’s front windows before taking off. Around 15 minutes later, two suspects returned. 

Despite locking his doors and equipping the truck’s steering wheel with cables and locks, the preventative measures were no match for the prepared thieves. 

“They had all the right equipment just to get in there and cut the cable, cut the steering wheel lock and take the truck,” Powell said. “They had it in two-and-a-half minutes.”

Later that morning, the stolen truck was found abandoned in South Gate. However, all of Powell’s expensive tools were gone. 

The thieves also tore out the truck’s ignition and back door before speeding away with it.

“It’s not just me that it hurts, it’s everybody when they’re stealing from us,” he said. “We have to find a way to stop these guys from doing this. It’s painful.”

Although Powell is devastated by this loss, he’s trying to stay positive and work on regaining his livelihood by replacing his tools. He hopes he’ll be ready to work soon enough. As an independent contractor, he has two employees who also rely on him for pay.

“I’ll take tomorrow and just start putting it back together as if I had nothing,” he said. “I know that I am blessed with the customers I have and the friends that I have. I’m going to pull through it.”

Powell filed a police report but said he couldn’t provide a detailed description of the suspects’ appearance as his home security footage was on night mode and was too grainy.

Anyone who may be interested in helping Powell rebuild can email him directly at kandrplumbing90504@gmail.com.