An east county community is searching for a 12-foot wrought iron horse that was taken from Double S Tack and Feed, in El Cajon.
The iron horse was gifted to the Gallant family ten years ago when they purchased the store.
“He’s incredibly beautiful, very strong. He’s just magical when you drive in the driveway and see him. He’s really a welcoming mascot for this store,” said Rita Gallant, owner of the store.
According to Gallant, the horse has become a popular piece of art in the community that customers always offer to purchase it.
[[562997811,C]]“I think I get an offer to buy that horse once a week. People are going, ‘hey come on, sell me that horse, sell me that horse,’ because he’s truly just beautiful,” said Gallant.
But the horse caught someone else’s eye. Gallant told NBC 7, the horse was taken from her property around 2 a.m. Tuesday morning.
Gallant caught the suspect in the act in one of her surveillance cameras.
“The video we have of him is coming across here. Normally someone would walk straight across the parking lot and head over to the horse, but he doesn’t do that. He goes across the front of the store, so he avoids all these cameras,” said Gallant.
Gallant also said she thinks the thief prepped for the theft several days before because the horse was secured with metal stakes and a chain.
“There were one, two, three, four of these [metal stakes] in him that had to get hammered in, and he was chained to the fence. It’s not something that someone can remove in one minute and thirty seconds,” explained Gallant.
According to Gallant, the thief completed the theft in a minute and thirty seconds, which is why she believes the thief may have removed the stakes before Tuesday morning.
“If I have any chance of getting him back, it’s this community that will get him back,” Gallant said.
Gallant said the horse is worth around $2,000-$4,000.
If someone does recognize the man in the video, you can contact the sheriff’s department at (858) 974-2222.
This story uses functionality that may not work in our app. Click here to open the story in your web browser.
Source: NBC San Diego
Be First to Comment