JENISON, Mich. — It's a bad case of déjà vu for Pete's Auto Parts in Jenison. The owner, Amber Kendrick, told FOX 17 people have been breaking into their property and damaging thousands of dollars of inventory.
This isn't the first time.
On Thursday, Kendrick was seen putting up warning signs along the fence line, encouraging trespassers to keep out.
It's not what she wants to do. It's what Kendrick said she has to do.
“These kids have to be arrested. They have to be punished, or I guess it's not going to stop," she said.
Kendrick's grandfather founded Pete's Auto Parts in the 1950s. It's an auto salvage yard with more than 900 vehicles. It might not look like it, but each of them has value.
“Every vehicle that we buy, we bid on it [at] auction for a dollar amount based on what we think we can sell," Kendrick said. "Obviously, this [Ford Edge] is going to lose a lot of money because these kids destroyed parts, and it never needed to happen.”
Kendrick believes a group of kids are sneaking on site and shattering glass windows or taking cars for joy rides.
The Ford Edge she referred to was just the latest example.
“These scrapes all down the door, they broke the door mirror; they destroyed the fender; they destroyed the hood; they destroyed the A-pillar; they destroyed the front door; they destroyed the rear door; they destroyed the quarter panel," she showed FOX 17.
Kendrick is convinced kids are causing this damage because of what happened in 2022.
“We had this problem two years ago, and those kids just rate $67,000 worth of parts," she said. "That was the same amount of money that we were budgeting for Christmas bonuses.”
It was four kids that time, Kendrick said, all between the ages of 12 and 14.
She said they didn't have malicious intent, nor did they steal anything. In fact, Kendrick said there isn't much to steal even if they wanted to.
"You could come try to remove a rear door off that Subaru, but how are you going to get it back over the fence? Right?" she said. "It's not about theft. These are just kids causing damage and that damage needs to stop.”
Back then, it was handled through mediation.
Even though the circumstances this time are similar, Kendrick's response will be different.
“This time around, we're going after these kids as hard as we can," she said.
Capt. Jake Sparks with the Ottawa County Sheriff's Office said those responsible could face trespassing violations and destruction of property. Sparks said his team is looking into it, and Kendrick said they've promised to increase patrols around their property on Port Sheldon Street at night.
In the meantime, Kendrick said she is in the process of upgrading the security system at Pete's Auto Parts as well.
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