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GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. - A Gwinnett County landscaper said he was only gone for five minutes Friday when someone drove away his livelihood.
"Every little tiny thing that I had that I ran the business with is gone," explained John Zimmermann, owner of Curb Appeal Property Enhancement.
Zimmermann said he was at a client's home in Dacula and had loaded most of his equipment back onto his trailer. He went to finish blowing off the back yard and when he returned, he noticed his truck was gone.
"It's hard especially you know, my wife's going to school. So, I'm the only source of income," said Zimmermann. "We've got two kids, we've got a mortgage, we've got everything. So, you know, this hurts."
The small business owner started the company about a year and a half ago with just the equipment he used in his own yard. He slowly built up the company and estimated the value of his truck and equipment was around $50,000. He has insurance, but said that won't make up for all his losses.
"I'll just have to work harder and I'm not afraid of work, you know. I mean, that's how I got to this point," he said. "I could do it again. It's just--it stinks."
Zimmerman admits he left the keys to his truck hidden under the front seat, which made it easy for the alleged thief to make a quick getaway. Now, he plans to take extra precautions.
"That's always [going to] be in the back of my head--I hope nobody's out front stealing stuff off of my truck. You know, so, I'll probably always have stuff locked up," he shared.
The Zimmermans shared a photo of their truck and trailer on Facebook in the hopes that someone might spot it and call police. As of Sunday night, the post had more than 3,000 shares.