Two men burglarize Coconuts Car Wash, steal cash from outdoor payment machines

The burglary happened before dawn on Sept. 20.

By Jonathan Simmons
| 5:30 p.m. September 22, 2015

(Photo courtesy of the Flagler County Sheriff's Office.)

Palm Coast Observer
News

Two men with covered faces burglarized the Coconuts Car Wash at the corner of Old Kings Road and State Road 100 in Palm Coast early the morning of Sept. 20, stealing cash from the outside payment machines' deposit boxes.

Surveillance video, according to a Flagler County Sheriff's Office case report, shows two men around 20-30 years old walking south on Old Kings Road at about 4:06 a.m. to the car wash, where they pried open the payment machines.

A store manager, Michael Ottlein, told deputies after reporting the crime at about 7:12 a.m. that he'd closed the business at about 6:30 p.m. the previous night and arrived at about 7 a.m. that morning to find the payment machines pried open.

The car wash's owner, Gunnar Hildemann, arrived and showed the deputy surveillance footage, and a deputy photographed the damaged payment machines and deposit boxes. The Sheriff's Office is still investigating the crime.