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Caught on camera! Thief steals from Rita Ranch yard

Posted at 10:07 PM, Nov 22, 2016
and last updated 2016-11-23 00:13:46-05

Around 2 in the morning on Tuesday, a thief was caught on camera stealing two lawn decorations from the front of a house near Old Vail Road and Houghton.

The homeowner, Robert Nemitz, had his security cameras rolling when a statue of a turtle and an owl were stolen off his lawn.

The statues are valued at about $100.

Nemitz has one camera set up outside his garage and another connected to his door bell. 

The security footage shows a car parking in the middle of the street. Then a man jumped out and walked to the front of the house.

He picked up the first lawn ornament, grabbed a second the drove off. 

Army veteran, Nemitz, has his cameras set up for instances just like this.

"The cool thing about the security camera is that it automatically uploads to the internet in real time. So we didn't know about it until them morning when we realized our stuff was gone. But we were able to go back on the internet, get the video and see what exactly happened," Nemitz said. 

The security system records when the doorbell rings or if the camera detects motion.

With the holiday season underway, Nemitz hopes other homeowners will be vigilant in protecting their property. 

His wife doesn't want to decorate for Christmas this year after the theft.

"It's really sad that you know you can't even decorate your house. It's the holidays and you have people come up just blazingly take things in your front lawn. Crazy you can't even put that stuff out anymore without having the fear of someone just coming up and taking your stuff," Nemitz said.
 
Nemitz did file a report with Tucson Police and says although the items taken weren't incredibly expensive, they did have a lot of sentimental value.
 
If you have any information call 88-CRIME.