Camera captures pair of masked thieves stealing thousands of dollars worth of tools from gardener in Reseda

A local gardener has been left reeling just before the holidays after he had thousands of dollars worth of gardening equipment stolen from his truck in Reseda on Monday. 

Rafael Sandoval said that the incident occurred at around 2:30 p.m., while he was working. He's frustrated that they were able to rip him off so quickly and in broad daylight. 

"Frustrating. ... Why does this happen in they daytime?" he said. "These people, they're not afraid of anything."

The video, posted online by a client of Sandoval's, shows two masked people scoping out his SUV before shattering the passenger side window. From there, they unlocked the trunk and loaded all that they could into the back of their car. 

"All my lawnmower, blowers, drills, weed whackers, trimmers, chainsaws, all the things I have for gardening," Sandoval said. "Very expensive. We worked so hard for two or more months to get those tools."

In all, he estimates they made off with around $7,000 worth of equipment. 

While he says he's suffered losses before in his two decades of landscaping, Sandoval said it's never been anything like this. 

"My tools, they're the things I need for work."

On top of it all, Sandoval says that the timing of the theft couldn't be any worse, with Christmas just around the corner. 

He says that his clients have been understanding as to why he hasn't been able to manicure their yards, but his biggest concern thus far is how brazen the thieves are. 

"They do it in the daytime when all the kids are walking there, the people are there, it's scary," he said. 

Sandoval has filed a police report, but doesn't believe much will come from it. Instead, he's hoping that the the surveillance video helps someone recognize one of or both of the men in the video.