Fred Paterson with the outer security door which was smashed at Cape York Tyres on Saturday.
FRED Paterson is warning other business owners to tighten up their security after a “wake-up call” break-in at his Cooktown mechanic workshop.
Mr Paterson discovered the break-in by chance when he dropped into his Cape York Tyres and Mechanical office to pick up something on his way to Cairns.
“I came down about 5am on Saturday and found the front door smashed; it looks like they’ve got a crowbar or big screwdriver and levered the door off the bricks,” he said.
“They’ve spent quite a while and broken all the locking mechanisms out, but luckily we have a second door on the office and whether they got spooked by something or that door put them off, we don’t know.”
Mr Paterson said it was a wake-up call for him and should be for other local businesses.
“Being here next to the (Marano’s) servo, which is always lit up, we sort of relied on that being a deterrent,” he said.
Cooktown Police were advised on Saturday morning and were making inquiries.
Mr Paterson said CCTV footage from the neighbouring Marano’s service station did not cover the front of his business, but he would be beefing up security to include cameras and sensor lighting.
“It’s a wake-up call for us and I think it should be for everyone else,” he said.
“It’s worth a cheap investment in some security cameras and sensor lights.”
