13 WHAM - "The wheels of a family's SUV were stolen as it was parked in the Greater Rochester International Airport parking garage while they were away on vacation.
The Monroe County Sheriff's Office has increased patrols in the garage but investigators have few leads because surveillance cameras did not cover the area of the theft.
Now 13WHAM News has learned of a similar theft on the same side of town and security camera photos that may help.
Gary Kosko made the discovery at his dealership. "I thought the air was out of the tires and sure enough I saw the lug nuts laying there and the rims and the tires were gone," Kosko said.
Kosko discovered footprints in the snow and went straight to his security camera footage. At 3:26 on Christmas Day, a man can be seen walking onto his property with a jack in his hand and heading straight for the 2007 Cadillac Escalade he had for sale.
"You can actually see on the camera that the truck starts slanting towards the driver's side. There's no secret what he was doing," Kosko said. "He was real quick too. He got the things off in a matter of seconds."
Two identical tires and rims were stolen from an Escalade parked at the Greater Rochester International Airport - perhaps even on the same day - though the discovery was not made until after the fact. Those tires were taken from the passenger side of the vehicle.
Kosko says his thieves stole only from the driver's side and left the other two wheels intact. Coincidence?
"They got two from me and two from him on he same day in the same (make) vehicle. Same day they got back and their truck was on blocks and my truck was laying in the snow," said Kosko.
His security footage also shows the tires being driven into a getaway vehicle: a red Ford Escape.
13 WHAM News has shared the photos with investigators to see if they match other airport security footage of a vehicle or person entering or leaving the garage.
Kosko has hopes it will solve both crimes.
"The rims and tires aren't cheap," he explained. "You take the loss and move on."
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