Norman Business Owner Catches Man Allegedly Stealing Landscaping

A Norman business owner catches a man allegedly stealing landscaping from his flower bed. Police say it happened on Christmas Eve in the middle of the day in front of the office of Mirage Home off 36th Ave. NW in Norman.

The owner of the building, David Yazdanipanah, said the thief dug up his landscaping and stole it, not once, but twice. “I assumed it was the landscaping company,” he said. 

So, Yazdanipanah initially didn’t think much about the man digging up one of his juniper trees, until he found out it wasn’t the landscaping company. “I really couldn't believe it,” Yazdanipanah said.

However, what was more unbelievable, Yazdanipanah says, was the fact the same guy came back three weeks later. “On this last Sunday Christmas Eve day, he came back, and he took the other one,” he said.

This time, David got a picture of the man on his cell phone and called 911. “I’ve got someone stealing landscaping from my office,” Yazdanipanah told a 911 dispatcher.

“Is this happening right now,” the dispatcher asked. “Yep,” Yazdanipanah replied.

He even confronted the suspect while on the phone as he loaded up the tree. “I know you stole that one,” you can hear Yazdanipanah say to the man. “He’s trying to drive off,” he told the dispatcher.

Norman Police say they didn’t locate the man who drove off in a late model silver Chevy Silverado pickup truck. “My guess is that he's a landscaper and he's stealing landscaping to resell to his customers,” Yazdanipanah said.

You can see from the picture that the suspect had his face covered up. Yazdanipanah said the suspect also covered up his license plate. “He had this planned out, he knew what he was doing,” Yazdanipanah said.

And by posting the picture on Facebook, Yazdanipanah hopes the man will stop doing what he’s doing. “Each one of those junipers planted is around $400, they're not cheap so, he's into me for $800,” he said.

However, it’s not about the money, for Yazdanipanah, he said it’s the principal of the matter.

“Other people work really hard for what they have,” Yazdanipanah said. “People like that, taking what doesn't belong to them, what other people work for, it's just not right and it makes me angry.”

Norman police are investigating. Anyone with information on the identity of the subject involved can call Norman Crime Stoppers at 405-366-7867.