MUKILTEO – A nonprofit Mukilteo firm that employs 40 people with developmental disabilities was burglarized over the weekend.
Those who work at Diversified Industrial Services at 13008 Beverly Park Road arrived at work Monday to discover about $800 in groundskeeping equipment had been stolen from storage sheds.
“They just cut the bolt, cut the locks,” firm president Ken Storkel said Tuesday.
Diversified Industrial, which has another branch in Everett, makes electrical and mechanical parts for airplanes. About 45 percent of its workers have developmental disabilities, Storkel said.
The firm’s employees also do woodworking and provide janitorial and recycling services. The firm assesses, trains and places people with developmental disabilities in other jobs, staff members said.
The organization’s revenue comes from customers – about 50 percent of its airplane parts are purchased by Boeing – and from Snohomish County, Storkel said.
Though $800 is not going to clean out the organization’s bank account, the firm is “very appreciative” when it’s able to break even on its annual budget of $2 million to $3 million, he said.
The equipment stolen included a lawnmower, a blower and tools used to maintain the grounds. Also taken was recyclable wire the firm planned to sell to help finance its employment placement program, accountant Marti Johnson said.
“We are heartbroken over this,” she said.
The break-in happened between 5 p.m. Friday and 5:30 a.m. Monday, Storkel said.
A rash of burglaries and car break-ins occurred over the weekend in the southern end of Mukilteo, Police Chief Mike Murphy said, but it’s unclear whether any are related.
“The things stolen were different,” he said.
Diversified carries insurance with a $500 deductible, Storkel said. “For a lot of folks around here, this is like their second home. It’s like an invasion.”
Reporter Bill Sheets: 425-339-3439 or sheets@heraldnet.com.
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