Dalton Lay, the owner of Dalton’s Lawn & Landscaping in High Ridge, has slightly adjusted how he schedules jobs and is focusing on security measures following a recent burglary.
The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office and St. Louis County Police are investigating the theft of a dump truck from Dalton’s Lawn & Landscaping,115 TRW Industrial Court in High Ridge, on April 19. The dump truck has been recovered.
On April 25, Sheriff’s Office spokesman Grant Bissell said a person of interest has been identified but did not provide further information about that person.
“Before, I had every piece of equipment and could schedule any job at any time,” said Lay, 23, of Webster Groves. “Now, we have to be a little more strategic. We try to lump jobs together like mulch jobs.
“I had planned to bring in shipping crates and put down gravel to cover the mud. All of that has changed, and security is the No. 1 priority across the board.”
Lay said he believes the burglary occurred between 6 a.m. and 6:42 a.m. He said lock was broken on a storage trailer and about $15,000 worth of blowers, trimmers, chainsaws and other equipment was stolen.
A 2020 F-350 dump truck with a 10-foot dump bed also was taken. Lay said it appears the stolen equipment was loaded into the dump truck, which was then driven through the company’s front gate and hit a hydrant.
The dump truck has been recovered.
“A neighbor said when she got to work at 6 a.m. (April 19), there was no damage,” Lay said. “An employee called me about the damage at 6:42 a.m. At first, we thought it may have been done by the tornado, but then the employee saw the storage trailer was broken into and the equipment was gone.”
The National Weather Service reported an EF-1 tornado, which produces wind gusts between 86 to 110 mph, was spotted at about 5:30 p.m. April 18. The National Weather Service reported the worst damage was in northern Jefferson County along Twin Rivers Road.
The dump truck was recovered on April 22 by the St. Louis County Police, the Sheriff’s Office reported. However, none of the stolen equipment was recovered as of April 25, Bissell said.
Lay said the dump truck was found at a construction site on Green Park Road. He said St. Louis County Police contacted him at about 2:30 p.m. April 22.
“It was a great spot to ditch the truck,” he said. “When the workers showed up, nobody batted an eye about it. What happened was when the employees started leaving for the day, they realized it wasn’t their vehicle.”
Lay said he purchased the dump truck at the end of March for $10,000. He said the truck required about $4,000 worth of repairs before his company could start using it, and the truck was ready to be used on April 17.
He said no one at the company had used the truck because he still needed to get the required license for its use, which he was going to do on April 19.
Lay said he believes whoever stole the equipment may have been looking for an opportunity to steal from his business.
“It was like they knew all of our equipment was in the storage trailer,” he said. “I think they scouted it out in advance and when the dump truck arrived, they were like we have easy transportation of everything in the trailer that they wanted to take.”
Lay said the truck’s transmission and ignition were damaged, and there was cosmetic damage to the rear bumper.
“I haven’t received an estimate for repairs, but I’m guessing it will cost about $9,000 to fix it,” he said.
Lay said he started his business in 2018, and he started operating in High Ridge in October 2023. He said the utilities have not been installed at the site, which was only used for storage.
Lay said he has shifted plans to build an office on the site to upgrading security measures at his business.
“I have purchased $3,000 worth of the highest quality of locks,” he said. “We have steering wheel locks on all the vehicles, and we have the vehicles parked to box in the equipment trailer, so it will not open without moving a vehicle. I am looking at bringing in spotlights and a new security system.”