Thieves Stall, Don't End Tulsa Man's Auto Shop Dream

The sidewalk was covered in glass, where someone busted through the window to get inside one man's up and coming auto body shop.

Robert Rentie was taking inventory of the tools he no longer has. He's trying to open his own paint and body custom shop on Admiral Place near Harvard, but a burglar may have stolen that dream.

"You know, I haven't even got the shop yet and everything broken into, everything stolen. All the copper wire in this building, gone. No electricity," Rentie said.

With glass shattered and the shop in disarray, Rentie knew someone had broken in; leaving behind a bike, backpacks and batteries.

It took a second look for him to realize that all of the building's copper wiring was also missing. Now he can't get electricity.

"Trying to make ends meet and can't even survive out here. Everybody's stealing your stuff," he said.

Tulsa police say the burglar took about $5,000 worth of tools and copper. Rentie says the theft won't slow him down.

"I've been doing these cars for 10 to 15 years. My family started out with a salvage yard and I been in the paint and body and custom cars for a long time," said Rentie. "You can't hold a good man down. So I'm going to keep trying and trying and trying."

Police told Rentie several other businesses along the street have been broken into. Copper was also taken from those buildings.