KING CITY — A pair of thieves made off with an undetermined amount of fireworks worth thousands of dollars from the King City Chamber of Commerce and Agriculture, and now donations are being sought from the community to help the organization recoup that loss and pay for last week’s aerial fireworks show.
According to the King City Police Department, an officer was patrolling the 900 block area of Broadway Street at about 9:30 p.m. on July 3 when he noticed the doors to the chamber’s fireworks stands were open and the padlocks were missing.
While the officer checked the area, two subjects wearing dark clothing ran away from the stands in different directions.
More officers arrived on scene but were unable to locate the suspects. A bag of fireworks, however, was recovered just outside one of the stands.
Police said the suspects took an undetermined amount of fireworks.
Becky Garcia, chamber board secretary and chairwoman of the fireworks fundraiser, said thousands of dollars worth of fireworks were stolen.
She called the theft “very disheartening.”
“They took a lot of stuff,” Garcia said. “They took the high-price items mostly.”
Sales from both stands help cover expenses associated with the chamber’s aerial fireworks display, which costs $17,000 to $18,000 to put on for the community every Fourth of July. Garcia said the chamber usually needs to sell about $30,000 worth of fireworks to break even.
“We’re going to be a little short because of this, but we’ll see if we can make this up from another fundraiser,” she said.
Garcia expressed gratitude for the officer who patrolled the area and prevented the thieves from taking any more of the chamber’s inventory.
“If it wasn’t for him, the booths would have been cleaned out,” she said.
To donate, call the King City Chamber at 831-385-3814 or contact a board member.
Police said they are currently pursuing active leads in this case. Anyone with further information can call the King City Police Department at 831-386-5980 or the WeTip line at 1-800-78-CRIME.
