AC units stolen from church, daycare near Clayton
JOHNSTON COUNTY, N.C. (WTVD) -- On the hottest days of the year, thieves are targeting children and a church in Johnston County.
Sheriff's investigators say six air conditioning units were stolen this week from a daycare center and a church just a few miles apart.
They say the thefts could be the work of the same suspect or suspects.
At the Daycare Network just south of Clayton, the director said workers showed up Wednesday to a very hot building.
They soon realized four of the nine compressors used to cool the building had been stolen.
The daycare has rented a portable unit to supplement the remaining air conditioners. They are also using fans to help move the air around and keep children more comfortable.
Teachers and parents at the daycare were even more upset when they learned that two of three air conditioning units were stolen from the Mt. Pleasant Advent Christian church just down the road.
They can't imagine who would steal from children and a church.
"I think they're a very selfish poor individual that they would take away from the safety and, you know, health of children," Daycare Network Director Katie Lee-Jones told ABC11. "It is a very, very sad day to have to come in and have this experience. It's just a very heartless person."
The daycare will also now have the added expense of building security cages around all of its air conditioning units.
