A Wedgewood business owner has been hoping someone will recognize the brazen thief caught on his surveillance camera.
Zouhair Elmaliki has owned Z Mac for the past three years and has taken pleasure in helping repair phones and computers.
On Tuesday, he was on break and in the parking lot of his business on 8th Avenue when a man took off with his MacBook.
Surveillance video showed the man wearing a black Star Wars shirt enter the store and talk to one of the employees. The employee said the man asked for Elmaliki, so he stepped out to try and find him.
"This is a common customer who comes in from time to time," Elmaliki told NewsChannel 5. "He even looks at the camera and knows that the camera is there but he turns and does not care."
In a matter of seconds, the man grabbed the MacBook and slipped it into his pants before taking off. Elmaliki knew something was wrong just by the way the thief was running. He tried to chase after the man, but could not stop him.
"What he stole is not going to make me poor, and it's not going to make him wealthy, but I hate it when something like this happens," Elmaliki said.
Elmaliki has worried about future crimes with how fast the neighborhood has been growing.
"It's concerning. There is always that fear," he said.
He has since posted a still photo of the surveillance camera around his store and online.
Meanwhile, the experience has been a learning lesson for the owner who understood that he needs to pay closer attention to prevent similar incidents from happening in the future.
So far, one other customer claimed he may know the suspect, but as of Saturday night, an arrest has not been made.
