Victim tracks down burglar

May 6, 2019

WNKY Staff,

(KUSA/NBC News) A burglary unfolded in real time on a surveillance camera for Brighton, Colorado building owner Mike Teater.

He first saw the man on security cameras, casing the building and trying to get into locked offices. When he couldn’t get in, he left.

A few days later, Teater said, the man came back and broke into his office while Teater watched on surveillance cameras from his home.

“I was watching this happen live and I was on the phone with police while he was doing this,” Teater said. “When I was watching him do this right here, I was furious.”

The video shows a man going through cabinets and rifling through desks until it appears that he found what he was looking for.

“He took all of our checks,” Teater said.

Teater said the man escaped before he and police arrived at his building. He spent the rest of the day driving around town looking for the suspect.

“That’s when I made up my mind that I’m gonna find this guy,” Teater said. “There’s over 40,000 people in this town, but I am going to find him.”

So, Teater studied the videotape, memorized the burglar’s tattoos, and went searching for him in areas around Brighton often frequented by the homeless.