Couple speaks out after burglary in shops

A Rexburg farmer went into one of his shops this week and found he had been burglarized.

A number of things were stolen including two welders, power tools, battery chargers, wrenches, and sockets.

The moment has left the couple leery of trusting some people.

“Everything that I use every day they took it. I’m mad,” said Robert Smith.

“It still doesn’t feel very good. Even to walk in here all these days later and know that it’s a sense of violation,” said Ranae Smith.

The Smith’s are local farmers living day by day to make a living.

After seeing that their shop on the Rexburg bench had been robbed, they thought things couldn’t get worse, but it did.

“It was probably an hour or two later that I found out that my second building had been hit,” said Robert. “When I found that out, it was personal.”

Ranae says that narrowed down who the suspects might be.

“That’s when all the randomness was taken out of it. The police had checked no other shops had been hit up here on the bench so it just really narrows the list of who it might be,” said Ranae.

$12,000 to $14,000 dollars worth of tools and equipment were stolen from their shop.

The Smiths are known by their friends and employees to be the kind of family to open their doors to those in need.

In the past, they have allowed individuals to visit their shop and use their tools for personal projects.

After this week that might change.

“This was against someone that I had helped,” said Robert. “Someone that I had let into my shop. Shops. Robbed both of them.”

Some of the tools that were stolen are irreplaceable belonging to Ranae Smith’s father, which was passed down to Robert. They said the tools have a higher value than money.

The Smith’s have a message to the people who stolen the tools.

“Bring back my stuff. I’ll pay you if you bring it all back. I’d rather have my stuff back. Why did you have to steal my equipment? Why? I let you in my shop. I know who you are. I have a pretty good idea of who you are. I let you in here out of the kindness of my heart and you’ve robbed my stuff. You took everything. You categorized it in your head and you took it,” said Robert.

Robert and Ranae are going to beef up security at their two shops which include the addition of security cameras and are encouraging other farmers to do the same.

The Smith’s are also adding a one thousand dollar reward for information leading to an arrest or conviction.

If you have any information on this case you can call the Madison County Sheriff’s Office at (208) 372-5000.