DESOTO, Kan. — It’s another case of thieves lining their pockets at the expense of kids and parents. A DeSoto daycare has no air conditioning and workers said thieves are to blame.
Kiddie Korner daycare workers discovered something missing Monday morning.
“I was just shocked,” Andrea McCoy, daycare owner, said. “I mean you hear about it. You hear about it on the news all the time. Obviously, we know what they want.”
McCoy said it is a likely copper heist over the weekend. She said thieves detached all six AC units around the building.
Laura Peek has three kids who attend the daycare.
“It’s crazy,” she said. “I mean, I guess people look for whatever it is they can get their hands on to make an extra dollar, to make extra money.”
McCoy said the more than 60 kids they care got a lot of play time outside. Workers used fans running inside to keep temperatures cool because McCoy said under state law, they can’t operate when it’s hotter than 90 degrees.
“We had one room that has a fan so we kind of had some doors open up front and a fan there just to kind of cool things off throughout the buildings,” McCoy said. “The rooms stayed fairly cool 80, 85 and our max is 90 unfortunately.”
She said they might have to shut their doors after the noon hour mid-week when temps are expected to rise.
McCoy has also reached out to the Johnson County Health Department to talk about the possibility of closing. She said it’s a terrible inconvenience for the daycare and parents.
“It’s a question of whether I take off work, my husband takes off work or we ask a grandparent to take off work,” Peek said. “So somebody’s going to have to sacrifice. It’s just a question of who.”
Workers and parents are both hopping for quick solution, and arrests of those responsible.
“I’m really hoping that they can find out whose doing it because it’s not just affecting me, it’s going to start affecting everyone if we can’t make a stop to it,” McCoy said.
“Hopefully they’ll be caught, but in reality, they probably have gotten off, which is really too bad,” Peek said.
McCoy said her landlord has insurance and is helping to find a solution. But thieves might want to think twice before targeting them again because McCoy said they’re of installing surveillance equipment and fencing.
The Johnson County Sheriff’s Office crime unit came out to investigate. If you have any information, call the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office.
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