Local collision center says more needs to be done to stop crime

When owner of Central Collision Center Kevin Styer works on cars, he worries about the safety of his shop.People using drugs around his business has been a problem around his two shops for about 3 years.“I have to literally chase them away from the doorstep,” Styer said.He said over the years the problem got worse and said he would catch homeless people building camps on his property.He said they even sleep in the cars on his lot and damaged one of his tow trucks.However, the crimes don’t stop there. He said they even climb up onto the roof of his shop and spend the night!“He was actually about three quarters of the way naked when I caught him up there,” Styer said about one of the homeless that climbed onto his roof.He’s had to spend at least 100 thousand dollars just to secure his shops. He said he even had to install a new gate at one of his shops and add a new wall at the other.“To keep everything secure at night because of the problems we were having with the homeless and the drug addicts but since I’ve done this, it did help me tremendously,” Styer said.Apart from the new security, he also had to fill in windows and put in cement to make them a part of the wall.“They were windows with bars on them and they were actually breaking the windows out, punching the windows through and doing what we call a smash and grab. Whatever their arms would reach in, they would grab and take,” Styer said.Styer said the problem is even worse at his other shop and as he was showing KGUN9 reporter Andrew Christiansen the new security measures he was taking, a transient used the restroom out in the open across the street.Styer said the problem doesn’t stop there. He said he finds drug paraphernalia like pipes and tin foil around the business and also bullets.Dan Higgins lives right next to his shop and said it’s been a problem for years. He said more needs to be done to house them elsewhere.“Your freedom is curtailed and there are hours when oh I don’t want to go, better wait until morning. It’s dark,” he said.Styer said he does call the police and they do respond to his calls. He said at the business next door, police responded when he called about transients taking wires from the business.However, he fees like police could take more of an active role around his shops.“They should spend a little bit more patrolling in the area, at least at night time. That seems to be when everything goes wrong, is at nighttime,” he said.