By LESLIE EIKLEBERRY
Salina Post
Police are looking for the driver of an older red van who is believed to be involved in a burglary at a west Salina construction business early Monday morning.
A patrol officer was headed north in the 600 block of Steahlin Avenue toward Beverly Drive when he saw the van pull out of 1430 Beverly Drive, Salina Police Captain Paul Forrester said this morning. The officer thought that was suspicious and pulled onto the Beverly Drive property and noticed that a gate to a fence was bent, allowing access to the property to the north: Ponton Construction, 1325 Armory Road.
Nearby, the officer located a DeWalt Tough System 2.0 Rolling Tower filled with tools and a box with a Hilti GX3 nail gun. As it turned out, the DeWalt Tough System 2.0 Rolling Tower and tools belonged to a Ponton employee, Forrester said.
From his position outside the fence, the officer also could see that a pickup inside the fence appeared to have been broken into and a toolbox on the pickup damaged, Forrester said.
Later Monday morning, police made contact with Ponton Construction personnel and viewed surveillance video that showed a person walk onto the property, enter the business, and shut off the alarm, Forrester said. The person was then seen retrieving the box with the nail gun from a pickup inside the building.
The person also did approximately $100 damage to the toolbox on the 2005 Chevrolet Silverado outside, he said.
The person who broke into the construction company was described as wearing a dark sweatshirt with the hood up and safety glasses.