GARLAND, Texas – A Garland family woke up to find their truck and equipment adding up to $20,000 stolen from their front yard.
The Martinez’s say it’s not just a hit for their business, but for the young men they’re trying to keep on the straight and narrow.
Garland business hit by thieves
Garland mentorship business robbery
It’s hard to miss Carlos Martinez. You’ll usually see him decked out in pink, wearing a cowboy hat, and driving a truck with a pink trailer.
His company, Good as New, is known as the “pink landscapers” in Garland. Carlos’ wife is the brains of the operation.
Monday morning, he woke up to a call from his son, telling him the truck and trailer were missing from the family’s front yard.
The trailer was full of the company’s equipment while it was parked outside the home, and it wasn’t long before the bright pink rig was found. But by that time, over $12,000 worth of equipment was gone.
Carlos said the hit wasn’t just hard on the company, but for what he calls “his kids.”
Business provides mentorship
What they’re saying:
“I’m an ex-gang member myself, and me growing up, we didn’t have people saying, ‘Hey, let’s work, or you can do this instead, you don’t have to sell drugs.’ We didn’t have that. I like to provide that,” Carlos said.
Carlos uses his business to help young people who are going down the same path he was on, teaching them discipline, responsibility, and keeping them on the straight and narrow.
“It’s hurting them. They haven’t worked a day this week, and they’re texting me, my boys are texting me, ‘Hey, Mr. Carlos, uncle, we’ll work for free until we get back to where we need to get.’ That touched my heart. It let me know that I’m doing right,” Carlos said.
Carlos was in the process of expanding his business when everything was stolen.
“Now instead of moving forward, we’re going backwards and have to start all over again,” Carlos said.
“We’ve gotten a few friends that have offered to lend us tools or things like that until we get on our feet, but at the end of the day, it’s still not enough to put all the boys to work,” Barbara said.
And while the Martinez’s are trying to get back on their feet, they’re also using this as a teaching moment.
“Look how it’s doing us, how it’s affecting us and you,” Carlos told his kids. “Had you done that to someone else, they would be going through and feeling exactly what you’re feeling through right now.”
He hopes the lesson sticks.
“And two of them were like, ‘Mr. Carlos, you’re right, we appreciate you man, thank you so much, I didn’t think of that that way,” Carlos said.
What’s next:
The Garland Police Department says they’re still working on locating the tools and equipment that were stolen.
The Source: Information in this report came from FOX 4 interviews with the victims of the crime.