COMSTOCK TWP, Mich. (WOOD) — Law enforcement in Kalamazoo County is investigating a case of theft in which a fireman’s essential equipment was stolen from his vehicle.
It happened on Oct. 20, outside the Meijer on Gull Road in Comstock Township.
On Tuesday morning, the fire department said it had found a person in connection to the theft.
“One of our firefighters was off duty, had his gear in his personal vehicle, was in the grocery store shopping. Somebody scoped it out, took the gear out of that vehicle,” explained Capt. Rick Mack.
According to Mack, the stolen equipment was not cheap.
“It’s in the thousands, for sure,” he said. “(It’s) all the interior structural gear that a firefighter would wear — pants, boots, coat, radio, helmet, SCBA (self-contained breathing apparatus) mask, gloves.”
Having that taxpayer-funded gear on hand is not only for convenience whenever a call comes in, but also for cancer prevention.
“You would want to wash your gear after you go into a fire and not wear it when it’s dirty just because of the carcinogens,” Mack explained. “Pretty much everybody on the department has a set of backup gear. We also have sets that are in our backstock.”
Comstock Township did release two surveillance photos of a person and vehicle of interest on its Facebook page.
If you recognize them or have any information, call the Kalamazoo County Sheriff’s Office Criminal Investigation Division at 269.383.8723 or Silent Observer at 269.343.2100.
