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Thieves steal car wash kiosk in Murray, owner frets over the loss of business

Posted at 10:14 PM, Dec 06, 2018
and last updated 2018-12-07 10:02:17-05

MURRAY, Utah — A car wash owner could be out thousands of dollars after thieves stole an expensive payment machine from outside his business.

Surveillance video from Sunburst Car Wash shows someone in a white truck tie a rope around the machine and pull it from the ground.

Moments later, more people arrive to put it in the truck and drive away.

“It was pretty shocking because I got a call from my employee that morning and I just couldn’t go back to sleep,” said Ali Soweidan, owner of the car wash.

The machine that was taken controls the automatic car wash by accepting cash and credit card payments. Without it, Ali says the car wash can’t operate.

“It does not work at all,” Soweidan said. “It is out of business.”

He estimates the machine contained only about a hundred dollars in cash, but this crime will cost him much more than that. He says he will lose up to a thousand dollars each day the car wash isn’t working.

“It is one of our busy seasons for the car wash because a lot of cars have salt on them,” Soweidan said. “Sometimes we have lines out to the street.”

Now, there are no lines and the door to the car wash is closed.

“It really harms us,” Soweidan said.

Thursday night, Murray police said they found the machine but it was badly damaged. Ali isn’t sure if it can be salvaged.

A new machine could take four weeks before being installed.