MIAMI – South Florida artist Austin Kerr is out thousands of dollars after his studio in Miami was broken into early Wednesday morning.
"They kicked in the expanded metal that's bolted to the wall inside the studio and crawled inside," Kerr said.
Kerr's surveillance video caught most of the action outside his business at 7950 NE Fourth Ave.
The thieves worked as a duo. The man, who Kerr believes is in his 40s or 50s broke into the studio, while a girl, who he thinks could be in high school, stood watch outside.
Once inside, the man realized he was locked in, so he forced his way back out.
"Kicked that in and then used a screwdriver to knock out the deadbolt on the swinging gate," Kerr said.
The man and the girl took a few things before leaving. They came back 30 minutes later with a truck to take even more.
In total, Kerr said the thieves took multiple pieces of equipment, two air conditioning units, drinks from the fridge and even a box of ice pops.
The studio is where Kerr works on and sells his art, and the break-in just so happened to fall on his 10-year anniversary of moving to Miami to start his business.
"This is like a meditation space for me where I do this creating, and it's unfortunate to see this," he said.
Anyone with information about the burglars is asked to call Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at 305-471-8477.